Saito got off to a bit of a rocky beginning in the first, as Lions centerfielder Shogo Akada singled to left and went to second on a sacrifice and third baseman Jose Fernandez singled to center to push Akada in for a 1-0 lead. Leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada walked. Saito then struck the next two men out and was dominant from there on in. 

Daiei surmounted the deficit in the fourth, as leftfielder Pedro Valdez walked and first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka, in his first start in five games, jackhammered one into the rightfield seats to make it 2-1 Hawks. 

Saito asserted his authority further by striking out the side in the bottom of the inning, an effort that won him another run in the fifth on a double to rightcenter by second baseman Tadahito Iguchi and a single to center from shortstop Munenori Kawasaki to put it at 3-1 Hawks.

Wada homered to right in the sixth to make it 3-2 and it would be the Lions last hit. In the meantime, Daiei added a run in the ninth when
DH Julio Zuleta doubled to leftcenter and, one out later, third baseman Mitsuru Honma singled to center for the RBI. Koji Mise wove a perfect ninth to earn his tenth save and this one was a memory. 

Matsuzaka was clocked at 92mph. He threw a lot during spring training and added one more day of throwing recently to try to solidify his mechanics, but that may have taken a toll on him. How this affects him will have a big influence on whether Seibu stays on top or not if Daiei straightens out its own starting pitching situation. 

Mirabal had been working on a four hitter through eight, but could only get one out in the ninth and ended up with a 140 pitch no decision. 
Did manager Trey Hillman push his pitcher a little further than he should have? 

Jeremy Powell started for Kintetsu and was touched for four runs and 11 hits in seven innings and was lucky to have not figured in the decision. 

Nippon Ham grabbed the first lead of the game when centerfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo murdered a Powell offering and sent a cruise missile deep into the leftcenterfield seats juts under a billboard at the back of the stands, perhaps the longest jack of the pretty boy outfielder's life,
to make it 1-0.

They loaded the bases with one out in the third on a pair of singles and a walk, but first baseman Fernando Seguignol's liner was intercepted by second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi, who doubled Tomoyuki Oda off of first to put an end to the threat.

It remained 1-0 through five and then Seguignol went to the vertical game, socking a Powell pitch into the second deck in right for a 2-0 lead.

Rightfielder Tomochika Tsuboi homered to right in the seventh and it was 3-0 Fighters.

In the eighth, Seguignol walked and leftfielder Angel Echevarria singled to left. Powell was lifted for Hideo Koike, who induced a grounder to short from Kuniyuki Kimoto and it was thrown away by Tadatoki Maeda to allow Seguignol to rumble home and Echevarria to reach third. Kazuteru Shimada flew out to center and Echevarria tagged up and crossed to make it 5-0 Nippon Ham. 

That would all go up in smoke in the ninth, though. Mizuguchi singled to center and rightfielder Yosuke Takasu walked. One out later, first baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa singled to right and the bags were juiced. DH Osamu Hoshino got an 89mph fastball that was up in the zone and drove it into the first row of the rightfield bleachers for a grand slam, the second of the utilityman's career, to contract the disparity to 5-4. Yokoyama replaced Mirabal. Leftfielder Fumitoshi Takano crashed a shot off the centerfield wall. Centerfielder Daisuke Masuda smashed a two bagger into the leftcenter alley and it was even at five all. Yokoyama then retired the next two men on flyouts.

Yoshida opened the inning on the hill for the Buffs and Tsuboi reached on an infield hit and went to second on a sac bunt. Koyano hit one right on the screws and Tsuboi arrived at home without incident and the ballgame was over. 

Kintetsu's normal rightfielder, Koichi Isobe, left the game early due to discomfort in his wrist. Takasu, normally a second baseman, had only ever played the outfield in one game in the minors, so that he said he felt  out of his element out there is no suprise. Isobe is day to day. 

The Buffs are only 2-6-1 the game following a Hisashi Iwakuma start.  

Kawagoe was no slouch, either. He permitted only two runs on eight hits in seven innings, so it was unfortunate that he suffered a loss.

Lotte had men on first and third with one away int he first, but it was torpedoed by a double play ball. They wouldn't then really have a real shot at pushing anything across until the fourth, when third baseman Matt Franco singled to right and, one out later, first baseman Kazuya Fukuura singled to center and second baseman Chihiro Hamana did the same for the RBI and a 1-0 lead.

And so it was until the seventh, when Lotte reliever Dan Serafini was victimized for a leadoff single to right by second baseman Keiichi Hirano. Serafini easily retired the next two men. When Orix first baseman Jose Ortiz entered the batter's box, Lotte skipper Bobby Valentine went to the bullpen for Ono, who saw one of his pitches rifled up the rightcenter gap for a run scoring double to tie it at 1-1. 

However, Fukuura commenced the home portion with a double to leftcenter and was sacrificed to third. Leftfielder Yukihiko Sato singled to left and it was 2-1 Lotte. Kawagoe then struckout the next two men to finish his assignment. 

Soichi Fujita came out of the pen for Lotte and permitted a two out double to left and walk with two outs, but struck Hirano out. Nippon Ham would get only one more hit the rest of the evening after that.

Lotte centerfielder Jun Inoue applied good wood to a Jun Hagiwara offering in the eighth for a homer to right. Masahide Kobayashi got the save in the ninth and it was see you later. 

Kuroki was clocked at 89mph, a very encouraging sign. He also made Orix' team batting average fall below .300 for the first time in 41 games. 

The trio of leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani, rightfielder Roosevelt Brown and centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu went 3-37 in the series with Lotte. That goes to show that Lotte does have some decent pitching, but it is a matter of finding the right combination at the right time and getting everyone to find a groove at the same time that would enable a team that is a bat or two short to make a run.