Baseball: Veteran Wada leads Hawks past Eagles, to brink of playoffs

Veteran starter Tsuyoshi Wada threw 5-1/3 shutout innings as the second-place SoftBank Hawks took a big step toward the Pacific League playoffs with a 7-3 win over the Rakuten Eagles on Tuesday.

With two games remaining, the victory at Fukuoka’s PayPay Dome ensures the 71-68-2 Hawks will finish the regular season with a winning record and leaves them 1.5 games clear of the third-place Lotte Marines, who lost 4-1 to the Seibu Lions.

The Eagles are a further half-game back from the third and final playoff berth.

Wada (8-6) struck out six, while limiting the Eagles to three hits and a pair of wal...