Starters Takashi Ishii for Seibu and Hiroyuki Kobayashi for Lotte had almost identical outings, each man going six innings of four run 
ball on seven hits and neither figured  int he decision. 

Lotte scratched out three runs in the first, as second baseman Koichi Hori got aboard on an infield hit and DH Matt Franco walked. Centerfielder Benny Agbayani singled to center to slingshot Hori in. First baseman Kazuya Fukuura singled to right for an RBI, Agbayani making it to third. Third baseman Kiyoshi Hatsushiba flied out to center and Agbayani tagged up and crossed for a 3-0 lead.

Kobayashi, though, was even more generous than Ishii with the opposing lineup in the home segment. With two outs, third baseman Jose Fernandez walked and leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada singled to right. First baseman Masahide Kaizuka crashed a shot off the leftfield wall for a two run double. DH Taketoshi Goto singled to left and it was even at 3-3. Shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima rattled the leftfield wall with a double and Goto rumbled all the way around from first for a 4-3 Lions advantage. 

In the third, Lotte came back on a single to center by Franco, a similar knock by Agbayani and a two out single to left by Hatsushiba that 
enabled Franco to wheel into home for a 4-4 tie. 

Seibu had men on second and third with one out in the fourth, but that was cashiered on a couple of groundouts and it remained tied. 

Lotte then squandered a golden opportunity in the sixth when Ishii walked the bases loaded with two outs, but Hori grounded to third for the final out of the frame.

However, in the eighth, Kaizuka doubled to leftcenter and went to third on a sac bunt against Soichi Fujita. Nakajima was intentionally walked. Hiroshi Hirao, pinch hitting for catcher Toru Hosokawa, grounded one near the mound that Fujita got to and threw to Hashimoto, who applied the tag. Second baseman  Hiroyuki Takagi reached on an infield hit. That brought up centerfielder Shogo Akada, who popped 
up to second for the third out.

Seibu would attempt to win it in regulation in the bottom of the ninth, as Fernandez singled to center with one away and Wada reached on an infield hit. Pinch hitter Tomoaki Sato singled to right to load the bases. Scott McClain, though, struckout and Nakajima grounded out and 
it went into extra innings. 

Nobody even reached base until Hashimoto opened the 11th with a drive into the leftfield bleachers. They would then load the bases with two outs, but Agbayani flied out to right to hold it to 5-4 Lotte.

Masahide Kobayashi struckout the first two men he saw in the last of the 11th and, after he walked Wada to put the tying run on, Hiroyuki Oshima grounded out and it was see you later. 

Masaru Yoshizaki, after missing nearly the first two months of the season with an injury, made his first start of the regular schedule and his control was out the window, as he walked six and was tagged for five hits and three runs in 4.1 innings before he was pulled. 

Nippon Ham spared no time in abusing Sugiuchi, as rightfielder Tomchika Tsuboi reached on an infield hit and centerfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo singled to right. DH Michihiro Ogasawara walked to load the bases. One out later, Echevarria and catcher Shinji Takahashi each walked to force in runs and make it 2-0. The next two men struckout and Sugiuchi was off the hook cheap. 

Daiei then registered its first run of the match in the second when rightfielder Yudai Deguchi singled to center and went to second on a groundout. Third baseman Ryo Yoshimoto singled to right and it was 2-1 Nippon Ham.

However, in the bottom of the inning, second baseman Hiroshi Narahara doubled to leftcenter and went to third on a groundout. Centerfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo got a curve ball down the zone and stroked it into the centerfield seats for a 4-1 Fighters advantage. 

Daiei blew it, though, in the third when, after leftfielder Pedro Valdez doubled to rightcenter, first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka walked and Yoshizaki plunked catcher Kenji Johjima to jam the basepaths, Deguchi fanned and DH Julio Zuleta grounded out. 

That lead disappeared, though, on a swing of the bat in the fifth. Matsunaka doubled to leftcenter and went to third on a groundout. Deguchi walked. Zuleta tomahawked the first pitch he saw into the upper deck in left and it was 4-4. Half of the Panamanian slugger's ten roundtrippers are against Nippon Ham this season.

The Hawks then pulled in front in the sixth on a two out single to center by Valdez, a walk to Matsunaka and a shot off the centerfield fence by Johjima that went for an RBI double to make it 5-4 Daiei.

But Nippon Ham got it back in their ups when Narahara singled to left, stole second, and then scored on a single to right from Tsuboi to knot it at five all. 

In the seventh, the decisive blow was struck for the Fighters. Ogasawara singled to center. Reserve first baseman Eiichi Koyano laid down a sac bunt. Sugiuchi threw it away and everybody was safe. Akichika Yamada replaced Sugiuchi. Echevarria, who was celebrating his 33rd birthday, leveled one into the leftcenterfield stands to make it 8-5. 

Tatsuhito Kato, who had already been in for 1.1 scoreless innings, ascended the hill again for the eighth and Iguchi doubled off the centerfield wall. He tagged up and moved to third on a fly ball to center and then tagged up again and scored on a sac fly by Valdez to shrink the deficit to 8-6. 

In the ninth against Michiya Yokoyama, Johjima singled to center and centerfielder Kazuyuki Takahashi reached on an error by Koyano, Johjima making it to third. Zuleta struckout. Centerfielder Hiroshi Shibahara grounded to first and Johjima crossed. Kazuhiko Miyaji, pinch hitting for Yoshimoto, struckout and the Fighters escaped with the victory. 

Nippon Ham first baseman Fernando Segugignol fouled a ball off of his shin in the second and was taken after the fifth. He isn't expected 
to miss the next game. 

Matsunaka is now at .381 after walking three times and going 1-2. His OPS is now  1.325 (.522 OBP/.803 SLG). Wow! He is on pace for around 380 total bases as well. 

Shinichi Kato had one of his best starts of the season for Kintetsu, too, permitting two runs (one earned) on four hits over six innings before the bullpen allowed four runs to cross the plate. 

Kintetsu went out to a 1-0 lead in the second when first baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa walked and Fumitoshi Takano ripped a single to right.
Orix rightfielder Roosevelt Brown let the ball get by him and Kitagawa just kept on running until he had had crossed the plate. 

But in the fifth, Orix DH Ryutaro Tsuji grounded to second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi, who booted it. Third baseman Ryota Aikawa doubled into the leftfield corner and Tsuji sprinted around the bases to score from first and even it at one all. 

The Kobe crew then assumed the lead in the sixth when leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani guided a curve ball beyond the leftfield wall to make it 2-1 Orix. 

Kintetsu catcher Akihito Fujii retorted with a rendition of  "Long Stick Goes Boom" for the folks in the leftfield stands and it was 2-2. 

After Kato was done for the night, Hector Carrasco tossed a perfect inning. He was succeeded by Toyohiko Yoshida for the eighth and Orix centerfielder Keiichi Hirano singled to center and went to second on a sac bunt. Tani singled to left. Kazuo Fukumori took the ball from Yoshida. Orix manager Haruki Ihara sent Takeshi Yamasaki up to pinch hit for Brown and he was intentionally walked to load the bases. First baseman Jose Ortiz grounded into a 5-2 force. Tsuji conked a fastball to center and Tani and Yamasaki were in. Aikawa doubled to rightcenter and two more scored to make it 6-2 Orix.

Yamaguchi walked a man with one out in the ninth, but retired the next two and the W went home with Orix. 

Brown, when he learned he was being pinch hit for, flung his batting helmet down, wrecked a water cooler then went into the tunnel and
broke a glass and wire mesh window. Ihara, though, offered the following rationale for pinch hitting for the ex-Cub: "he hasn't hit lefthanders all year." Brown's average has been on a downward slide and is at .283 right now. Moreover, that he threw that tantrum with former batting and homer champion Yamasaki standing in for him probably didn't earn him too many friends among his teammates, Yamasaki himself and fans. So he might want to consider apologizing.