The reason at the moment that Lotte is caught in such a bad patch is that they always have some breakdown in a game that kills them. When they get good pitching performances, the offense doesn't score. When the offense produces five or six runs, the pitching gives it away. Or, as in the first inning, a miscue does them in. With submariner Shunsuke Watanabe on the hill, Buffs centerfielder Naoyuki Omura doubled to rightcenter leading off the game and went to third on a groundout. DH Kenshi Kawaguchi seared a liner to to the wall in center for a double and a 1-0 lead. One out later, rightfielder Koichi Isobe lined a shot to left. Leftfielder Matt Franco, perhaps influenced by former Met teammate Roger Cedeno, completely misjudged it and it sailed over his head and to the leftfield fence for a double and a free RBI to make it 2-0 Kintetsu. 

Lotte countered in the second when Kazuya Fukuura bashed an Iwakuma delivery into the rightfield bleachers and it was 2-1 Buffs.

Watanabe settled down nicely and was sailing along, as was Iwakuma, when Buffs first baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa put some lightning into a Watanabe offering and knocked it into the leftcenterfield seats to make it 3-1 Kintetsu in the sixth. 

Takashi Kawai came on in the seventh for Lotte and Omura leadoff with a double and went to third on a groundout. Shingo Ono was substitued for Kawai. Pinch hitter Fumitoshi Takano singled to left to drive Omura in and Kintetsu was in control at 4-1.

Isobe then completed the night's scoring when he creamed one into the rightfield stands beginning the eighth. Iwakuma would retire the last 11 men he faced in the game from the sixth on and it was over. 

For Kintetsu skipper Masataka Nashida, it was his 300th victory. The only other two former Kintetsu field bosses to attain that mark with the team are hall of famers Akira Ogi and Yukio Nishimoto. 

Iwakuma became the first pitcher since Lotte's Choji Murata in 1985 to win his first seven starts from Opening Day. Like last year's 20 game winner, Kazumi Saito, he is tall and lean. But Iwakuma also lost it after the all star break in 2003 and with that ended his team's chances at the pennant. So we'll see if he runs out of gas at some point. 

Seibu starter Takashi Ishii had a two hitter over the first five and had allowed only three hits over six before he tired in the seventh and coughed up what ended up being the game winner in the seventh. Nevertheless, it underscores the fast that with the exception of Daisuke Matsuzaka, the team's pitching is settling in and it could be a while before anyone takes them out of the top spot in the standings.

Seguignol cracked the first hit of the game and his first knock in his last 15 plate appearances when he bigtimed an Ishii pitch into the centerfield seats kicking off the second for a 1-0 lead. 

Mirabal had a no hitter over the first five innings before Lions shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima singled to center to open the sixth and was sacrificed to second. Mirabal plunked second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi. Centerfielder Shogo Akada, though, grounded to short and rightfielder Hiroyuki Oshima struckout to quell the disturbance. 

In the seventh, Ishii helped the Fighters obtain the key tally of the night when Seguignol singled to right and went to second on a balk. I don't know why Ishii balked, though it is hard to imagine that Ishii was worried that Seguignol, who had yet to register a bag theft this year. was going to steal and did something wrong in attempting to hold him close to first. Two outs later, rightfielder Yoshinori Ueda singled to center and Seguignol rumbled around to make it 2-0. 

But Mirabal began having some problems with his control and it made this match even more tense. With one away in the home portion, leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada pounded a shot off the rightfield wall for a double and completed the circuit on a double to leftcenter by DH Masahide Kaizuka. Third baseman Scott McClain and PL RBI leader Nakajima both walked to load the bases. However, pinch hitter Hiroshi Hirao flew out to shallow center and Takagi fouled out to the catcher to interrupt the revoat at 2-1 Fighters.

Seibu then had backup centerfielder Hiroyuki Shibata on in the eighth on a walk and a sac bunt, but first baseman Jose Fernandez and Wada struckout and grounded to short respectively and reliever Michiya Yokoyama struckout the side in the ninth to put it to bed and end the Fighters three game losing skid.  

Since coming back to Japan after a torrid spring in the Cubs camp, McClain is down to .195 and a .664 OPS. However, it has only been 17 games for him. 

A Nippon Ham pitching coach called this the finest outing of the season for Mirabal, saying that the New York native had become too dependent on his shuuto and did better in this one because he relied on the heater. 

Lindsay Gulin's star has been tarninshed in his last two or three starts, as he was taken over the wall three times in this affair almost blow a four run lead. It does indeed seem as if PL hitters are beginning to adjust to the guy who throws slow, slower and slowest. 

Glorified batting practice pitcher Shinji Taninaka started for Orix and couldn't even survive the third before he was asked to have a shower.

Daiei got off to a promising beginning when shortstop Munenori Kawasaki got aboard on third baseman Hidemitsu Saito's error and third baseman Mizuki Tanaka singled to center. Leftfielder Pedro Valdez walked to juice the bags. First baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka shredded Taninaka's next pitch into the rightcenter alley for a two run double and went to third on a groundout. DH Julio Zuleta walked. Centerfielder Kazuyuki Takahashi grounded to second to exploit Matsunaka and it was 3-0.

Orix shortened that up a bit when first baseman Jose Ortiz boomed a Gulin pitch into the leftfield bleachers in the second to make it 3-1. 

However, Daiei restored the three run lead in the bottom of the inning when rightfielder Kazuhiko Miyaji singled to center and Kawasaki walked. Tanaka laid down a sac bunt. But Taninaka attempted to get Miyaji at third and it was late, packing the sacks. Valdez flew out to left and Miyaji tagged up and crossed to ehance their advantage to 4-1. 

In the third, Taninaka nailed Zuleta with a pitch, though Zuleta would be removed from the basepaths when Takahashi grounded to Taninaka, who fired to second for the force. Honma tripled up the rightcenter gap and the speedy Takahashi wound his way around easily
for a 5-1 lead.

Ortiz, though, connected for his second homer to left in the fourth and it was 5-2 Hawks.

The Kobe crew would then use the longball again in the seventh when Ortiz singled to center and, one out later, DH Takeshi Yamasaki, in his first game back from both the minors and manager Haruki Ihara's doghouse, monstered one into the rightfield seats to make it 5-4 Hawks. 

Johjima, though, doubled into the rightfield corner with one out and stole third, Johjima's fourth swipe of the season. Zuleta flew out to center and Johjima tagged up and crossed  and it was 6-4 Daiei. 

In the eighth, Honma doubled to rightcenter and went to third on a sac bunt, but with the infield up, Kawasaki hit a hard ground ball to second that froze Honma and the out was obtained at first. Tanaka grounded to short and the Hawks got nothing out of all that.

Mise would then be battered in the ninth. Ortiz singled to left and pinch hitter Tomotaka Tamaki singled to right. Mise plunked Yamasaki to fill the basepaths. Catcher Daisuke Maeda singled to left and Ortiz and Tamaki crossed. One out later, centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu singled to left and Yamasaki was home with a 7-6 lead. Leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani lined to Mise, who went to second to double Maeda off to end the inning. 

Kazuo Yamaguchi has been pretty much unhittable to this point as Orix' closer. Not in this case. Valdez singled to right. One out later, Johjima singled to center. After another out, Yamaguchi walked backup centerfielder Takeshi Tsuji. With the count 0-2 on Honma, Yamaguchi unleashed a wild pitch and Valdez hastily made for the plate to even it. Yamaguchi then threw an 88mph fastball up in the zone that Honma landed near the line in left and Johjima delivered the game deciding run. 

88mph is slow for Yamaguchi and his velocity was off in his last appearance, too. So he may be suffering some fatigue after taking all of last season off to rehab his shoulder.