Tsutomu Iwamoto started for the Fighters and was cuffed around for nine hits and four runs in 4.1 innings in defeat.

It was scoreless until the fourth, when Buffaloes first baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa singled to left with one out and DH Osamu Hoshino doubled into the rightfield corner. Leftfielder Fumitoshi Takano flied out to right and Kitagawa tagged up and strode in for a 1-0 lead.

Iwakuma then saw Kitagawa commit a one out error behind him to allow DH Tomoyuki Oda to get aboard and first baseman Fernando Seguignol singled to right. One out later, third baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto walked to load the bases. However, second baseman Kensuke Tanaka flied to center and Iwakuma had the problem behind him.

The Buffs then struck for a three spot in the fifth, as catcher Akihito Fujii singled to center and went to second on a sac bunt. Second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi singled to left. Rightfielder Koichi Isobe singled to right and Fujii was in. Third baseman Norihiro Nakamura walked to pack the sacks. Kitagawa singled to right for an RBI. Hiroaki Onishi, pinch hitting for Hoshino, flew out to center and Isobe tagged up and crossed to make it 4-0 Kintetsu.

Iwakuma had a two on, one out pinch in the home segment, buyt the next two men didn't get out of the infield and the lanky 22 year old's shutout bid was still an ongoing concern. 

His biggest obstacle arose in the sixth, though. Seguignol doubled to leftcenter and leftfielder Angel Echevarria singled to right. Kimoto singled to center to score Seguignol. However, Iwakuma stanched the bleeding right there, inducing two comebackers and a fly to center to 
retain the 4-1 lead.

In the eighth, Kitagawa homered to right for a 5-1 advantage. Kitagawa is hitting .629 with three jacks when Iwakuma starts this season. 

Iwakuma finished the night off in spectacular fashion, striking out the side in the ninth. He has won eight straight against Nippon Ham. 

The team record for most consecutive wins beginning a season is 10, by Kazuyoshi Ono. In addition, the club mark for most consecutive victories at anytime in the schedule is ten, which is held by Ono, Koichiro Sasaki (1970) and hall of famer Keishi Suzuki (1978). 

Nagisa Arakaki started for Daiei and, well, what is his problem? Why is a guy who has been clocked at 97-98 mph on occasion and who has a dominant slider only striking out mere handfuls of hitters and failing to get into the mid-90's consistently? He just can't seem to put it together yet and maybe a change in pitching coaches is in order. More on that later.

Daiei seized the first lead of the game in the third when second baseman Tadahito Iguchi walked and stole second. Shortstop Munenori Kawasaki singled to right and Iguchi was in with a 1-0 advantage.

In the fourth, though, Seibu used four singles to pull ahead. Third baseman Jose Fernandez and leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada singled to left, Fernandez making it to third. First baseman Masahide Kaizuka grounded to short and Fernandez crossed to even it at 1-1. Hiroyuki Oshima singled to center. Shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima singled to center to push the lead run across and the Lions were on top 2-1. 

They tacked on two more in the fifth, as Fernandez and Wada singled to center with one out and Kaizuka thumped a double off the rightfield wall to plate two and the Lions were in control at 4-1. 

They mugged Arakaki once more in the sixth on a walk to catcher Toru Hosokawa, a single to right that got Hosokawa to third and a sac
fly by Hiroshi Hirao to center that enlarged Seibu's hegemony to 5-1. 

Kawasaki homered to right on a changeup in the eighth and that would be their least hit before Kiyoshi Toyoda struckout two and then got Yudai Deguchi to groundout to first for the game's last out. 

Chang was clocked at 88mph. 

Getting back to Arakaki's problems, as has been pointed out on this site before, both Arakaki and Hayato Terahara, each a power pitcher originally, have had trouble prospering under pitching coach Takao Obana. Each man's velocity has declined and Terahara's curve ball, once rated as a plus pitch by MLB scouts, has virtually disappeared from his repetoire. Moreover, with the considerable problems that Daiei has had developing a sound pen, it might be a good idea to jettison Obana and bring in an MLB pitching coach since the Japanese way is just not working. Obana apparently  doesn't seem to understand how to use hurlers with the kind of heat that Terahara and Arakaki had as schoolboys and, in fact, has so monekyed with Terahara's pitching mechanics that he doesn't know which end is up anymore and his confidence is completely shot. Obana is ruining their careers. It is time for him to go and the sooner the better. 

Naoyuki Shimizu started for Lotte and definitely wasn't bad, going eight innings of three run ball on seven hits  while striking out nine in an undeserved loss. 

Lotte gained a shortlived lead in the second, as Motoyanagi plunked first baseman Kazuya Fukuura with one out and, one out later, catcher Tasuku Hashimoto singled to center. Second baseman Chihiro Hamana doubled down the rightfield line to drive Fukuura in with the 1-0 advantage. 

But a swing of the bat undid Lotte's fortunes. In the fourth, Orix rightfielder Roosevelt Brown doubled off the rightfield wall and DH Takeshi Yamasaki got a 91mph fastball up in the zone and middle-out and crunched it into the rightfield bleachers to make it 2-1 Blue Wave. 

In the sixth, Brown walked and, two outs later, third baseman Ryota Aikawa singled to center, Brown switching on the afterburners for third. Catcher Takeshi Hidaka, seeing how deep third baseman Matt Franco was playing him, laid down a bunt and Brown flashed across the dish while Hidaka reached first without a play and it was 3-1 Orix.

Lotte went hitless the last four innings of the game and Motoyanagi cruised to the triumph.