Kintetsu starter Shinichi Kato had to be pulled in the sixth when the Lions chomped him real good and while he got a win, he sure didn't want to permit those six runs he did. Definitely not a good night to demonstrate the pitching art to youngsters even though it was Children's Day. 

Matsuzaka barely broke a sweat dispensing with the Kintetsu order in the first, but he was trampled underfoot in the second by the herd. Third baseman Norihiro Nakamura throttled a 91mph fastball off the rightfield wall. Rightfielder Koichi Isobe clocked a 93mph heater into center for a single. First baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa, the goat the previous night when he couldn't come through in a couple of big situations, grounded toward short and beat it out for an RBI infield hit. One out later, shortstop Masahiro Abe walked to load the bases. Catcher Akihito Fujii singled to right to drive Isobe in. Centerfielder Naoyuki Omura singled to right as well for his RBI. Following another out, DH Kenshi Kawaguchi torched one down the leftfield line to tack two more on and it was 6-0. 

Now one has to question why you would leave a pitcher in there who has just been turned into a ground chucker by the opposition, but Tsutomu Itoh let this one get away from him in the third when the Buffs leaned on Matsuzaka once more. With one down, Kitagawa singled to left. Leftfielder Fumitoshi Takano walked. Abe doubled off the leftfield fence to plate Kitagawa. Fujii legged out an infield hit and Takano crossed. One out later, second baseman Yusuke Takasu singled to left to inflate the Kintetsu advantage to 9-0. 

Kato was sailing along and began to confront some bumps in the road in the fourth. With one out, leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada shoved a Kato
pitch into the leftfield seats. First baseman Masahide Kaizuka walked. One out later, the Pacific League RBI leader, shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, doubled to leftcenter to slingshot Kaizuka across and make it 9-2.

In the sixth, Lions third baseman Jose Fernandez homered to leftcenter and Wada connected for his second big fly. One out later, Tatsuya Ozeki bunted his way on. Nakajima singled to center. Catcher Toru Hosokawa, who has been quiet since the first couple of weeks when he lit the world on fire with a homer barrage, singled to center for the RBI. Buffs manager Masataka Nashida went to the pen for Katsunari Yoshikawa. Rightfielder Hiroyuki Oshima smashed one down the rightfield line for a double and Nakajima scored to cut it to 9-6 Kintetsu. The next two men grounded out and Kintetsu still had a three run edge.

The Lions narrowed it further in the seventh when Wada doubled to right with one out, Kaizuka walked, Ozeki singled to right to load the bases and Nakajima flied out to left to convert Wada and make it a two run game at 9-7. Hosokawa struckout to halt the uprising and that was all the offense for the big cats in the game.

Kintetsu then put it away in the top of the ninth when Nakamura singled with one down and Isobe walked. Kitagawa, who was 0-12 in his previous confrontations with Seibu reliever Shuichiro Osada, wacked a deep fly ball to left. It hooked and bounced off the wall inches from the foul pole, both runners putting it in overdrive for home on the double. Itoh then popped out of the dugout and tore the third base umpire's head off, insisting the ball was foul and was backed up by his leftfielder on that point. The call stood, though Seibu filed a complaint with league officials after the game concluded. One out later, Abe doubled to leftcenter to hail Kitagawa in for the final margin of victory, 12-7. The Buffs are now officially out of the cellar while Lotte assumes that position. 

After leaving the mound at the end of the fourth, Matsuzaka kicked a trash can and scattered a row of paper cups all over the dugout. Surrendering 19 runs in one's last two times to the hill will do that to you. His ERA is now 5.05. He had been 12-4 during his career in May, so we'll see if he rebounds. His changeup had good movement, though.

Wada has been a real offensive colossus so far. He is on pace for 300 total bases, 108 runs scored and 44 homers, presently boasting a 1.069 OPS while striking out only 12 times in 148 official at bats and walking 25 times. Not bad for a converted catcher. 

Hoshino stalled the Fighters on two runs and seven hits in eight innings and then rookie Koji Mise, on pace for 72 appearances, notched his sixth save. Why does manager Sadaharu keep going to him? How about a 20/1 K/BB ratio? Or that the league is hitting less than .190 against him?

Fighters rookie Takehiko Oshimoto is still having problems with walks, as he free passed four and hit a batter, but he was otherwise impressive by limiting the Daiei lineup to three hits and two runs in seven innings while loading up heavily on curve balls.

Nippon Ham third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara gave his team a quick lead when he knocked one into the centerfield seats with two outs in the first to make it 1-0.

However, one of those bases on balls cost Oshimoto in the second, as he walked catcher Kenji Johjima with one out and leftfielder Pedro Valdez laid the boom on a curve ball and thumped it into the mezzanine section in right to put The Hawks up 2-1. 

Takahashi walked in the third and second baseman Tadahito Iguchi singled to right with two outs. That brought first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka and his 1.228 OPS up, but Oshimoto struck him out. 

Hoshino got himself in a nice rhythm until it was upset somewhat in the fifth on a leadoff double down the rightfield line by Yoshinori Ueda and, two outs later, centerfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo singled to center to score him and tie it up at 2-2.

They then had two on and one out in the sixth, but the next two men came up empty to end the threat.

Takahashi, a speedster whose career has been shortcircuited by knee injuries,  would then strike the signal blow in the contest in the eighth when he hatcheted a hanging slider from reliever Tateishi into the rightfield seats for a 3-2 advantage. Iguchi singled to center and moved to second on a groundout. Johjima walked. One out later, DH Julio Zuleta cashed Iguchi in with a single for an important insurance tally to make it 4-2 Hawks.

With one away in the ninth, Fighters leftfielder Angel Echevarria took called strike three and was ordered to take a hike after he got in the plate umpire's face. Kuniyuki Kimoto reached on an infield hit to bring up Red hot catcher Shinji Takahashi was now the tying run, but he flied out. Kazuteru Shimada grounded to second and that was all she wrote. 

Takahashi had only 168 total plate appearances in nine years before the homer. 

Shinjo has hit .519 on Children's Day. 
 

Photo:  Echevarria Argues Over Strike Three Call and is Ejected

Nate Minchey started for Lotte and was hurt by a first inning error by shortstop Makoto Kosaka that effectively cost him and his team the ballgame, so he was left with responsibility for the defeat.

Hidetaka Kawagoe started for Orix and now has a pair of victories after having suffered 15 consecutive losses over the course of the last two years. 

With one away in the first, second baseman Koichi Oshima doubled down the rightfield line and leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani walked. Rightfielder Roosevelt Brown singled to center to make it 1-0. First baseman Kota Soejima grounded to Kosaka, who booted a potential double play ball. Shortstop Mitsutaka Goto singled to left and Tani and Brown made tracks to the plate. One out later, catcher Takeshi Hidaka doubled into the leftfield corner to push Soejima and Goto in with a 5-0 advantage. Lotte would never recover. 

Lotte finally got to Kawagoe in the fifth on a single to center from catcher Masaumi Shimizu and went to second on a sac bunt. Nuclear hot third baseman Matt Franco doubled to rightcenter to drive Shimizu in and it was 5-1 Orix. 

In the sixth, leftfielder Benny Agbayani homered completely  out of the park to left to make it 5-2. That was all they would do with Kawagoe, though, as the veteran hurler would let Lotte runners get into scoring positon, but then shut them down in a kind of bend and not break scenario. 

Lotte added one more run against reliever Jun Hagiwara in the eighth when centerfielder Kenji Morozumi and DH Seung-yeop Lee walked with one out and, one out later, pinch hitter Kiyoshi Hatsushiba singled to center to reduce the Orix lead to 5-3. Fireballer Kazuo Yamaguchi was summoned to face Kosaka, who is hitting about .180, and the diminutive former Gold Glover flew out to center. 

Orix went back up by three in their half of the inning when third baseman Hidemitsu Saito doubled to rightcenter and went to third on a sac bunt. Maeda singled to center and Saito galloped home to make it 6-3. Yamaguchi went through the Lotte lineup 1-2-3 in the ninth to cap it off. 

It was the first time in 22 years that Lotte hasn't won at least one of its first eight against any particular opponent. That last time was against Kintetsu in 1982, when they went 0-5-3. Indeed, if Lotte had only split their games against Orix, they would be in contention for the pennant. As it is now, they are six games out of the top spot.