For the second time in their last three games, Chiba Lotte Marines third baseman Toshiaki Imae has come up with the winning hit, this one a solo jack in the bottom of the seventh inning, to edge out Seibu 2-1. The Lions are now 11 under .500. 

Hiroyuki Kobayashi started for Lotte and racked up a new personal best 13th win with seven innings of one run, five hit ball while striking out six and walking one as he attempts to garner interest from MLB ballclubs. 

Hideaki Wakui went all the way for Seibu on two runs and six hits to be denied his 18th victory. 

Lions centerfielder Kazuki Fukuchi doubled down the leftfield line with one out in the second, but two strikeouts hindered him from advancing any farther than that. 

The Marines put two on with two gone in the bottom of the inning, but a strikeout also neutralized that. 

In the third, though, Lotte shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishoka beat out a chopper and centerfielder Daisuke Hayakawa singled to right, Nishioka motoring to third on the play. First baseman Kazuya Fukuura flied out to left and Nishioka tagged up and hustled in for a 1-0 lead. 

That is the way it would be through six. However, in the seventh, DH Kazuhiro Wada walked and went to second on a groundout. One out later, Takahiko Sato, pinch hitting for first baseman Tatsuyuki Uemoto, singled to center and Wada made haste for home and a 1-1 standoff. Catcher Toru Hosokawa reached on an infield hit, but third baseman Keisuke Mizuta struckout.

Imae would object to that in the home version by slugging a 2-2 hanging forkball into the leftfield seats to get his squad back in front 2-1. 

Following a perfect eighth by Tadahiro Ogino, Yasuhiko Yabuta assumed the mound duties in the ninth for the Marines and Wada singled to center and advanced to second on a sacrifice and then to third on a groundout. Sato was intentionally walked to get to Hosokawa, who complied by popping up to ice it. 

For Lotte, second baseman Jose Ortiz was 1-3 with a walk and is at .290. DH Matt Watson was 0-2 with a walk and is at .214. 

Jayson Stanridge continues to be outstanding for Softbank, as he went seven shutout innings on seven hits in a 2-1 victory over Orix at Osaka Dome, his seventh win in eight decisions. Kosuke Kato started for the herd and went five innings of two run, two hit ball for his second defeat. 

Hawks shortstop Munenori Kawasaki walked with one out in the first and centerfielder Hitoshi Tamura singled to left. DH Brian Buchanan doubled down the leftfield line and Kawasaki ran in. Catcher Hidenori Tanoue walked to load the bases. Leftfielder Shotaro Ide grounded to second and the out was made at first, permitting Tamura to cross for a 2-0 lead. Rightfielder Adam Hyzdu grounded to short and Kato put the boot in from there, no hitting the birds of prey through the end of his stint. 

Orix then screwed up a major opportunity in the second, as second baseman Mitsutaka Goto singled to center and was thrown out attempting to steal second. One out later, first baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto singled to right. Shortstop Keiji Obiki singled to center. But catcher Takeshi Hidaka grounded back to Stanridge and they would roll out only three more singles through six. 

In the seventh, though, Stanridge walked rightfielder Yuichiro Mukae and Kimoto with one out. But a flyout to center and a groundout quashed the threat. 

Softbank put two on with two outs in the eighth, but that was rendered inoperative on a groundout. 

Takahiro Mahara climbed the hill for the ninth for the Hawks and obtained two quick hits, but Mukae got a hold of a first pitch 92mph fastball and mortared it into the centerfield seats to slice it to 2-1. Kimoto and Obiki both singled to left to put the tying run in scoring position. Koji Hirashita pinch hit for Hidaka and struckout and it was game setto. Mahara is now within one of the Pacific League saves record held by Michael Nakamura, 39. It also ended Softbank's four game losing skid. 

This was the final game of the year for Orix and they finished last in manager Terry Collins first year. 

Veteran infielder Eiji Mizuguchi had his final NPB at bat before retirement in the sixth, grounding out to third in a pinch hit appearance.

For Softbank, Buchanan was 2-4 and is at .280. Hyzdu was 0-2 and is at .254. 

After needinjg to win some squeakers down the stretch to become the kings of the Pacific League for the second straight year, the Nippon Ham bats exploded Tuesday for 11 runs on 21 hits to trounce Rakuten 11-3. Starter Tomoya Yagi went five innings of three run, two hit ball for his fourth win. 

Hisashi Iwakuma started for the Eagles and got shellacked for five runs on six hits in just two-thirds of an inning to even his record at 5-5. 

Fighters centerfielder Hichori Morimoto beat out a ground ball toward short for an infield hit to commence the first and second baseman Kensuke Tanaka laid down what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt, but it was better than that and he also had himself an infield hit. Leftfielder Takahito Kudoh also attempted to sacrifice, but he dribbled it out in front of the plate and catcher Motohiro Shima grabbed it and fired to third for the force. DH Fernando Seguignol singled to right and Tanaka jetted in. First baseman Yukio Tanaka singled to right for an RBI. Third baseman Yang Chung-shou outran a ground ball toward first and taht loaded the bases. Rightfielder Toshimasa Konta grounded to second and Seguignol was in. Shortstop Yuji Iiyama doubled to right and two more came in for a 5-0 lead. Koji Aoyama took the ball from Iwakuma and catcher Shinya Tsuruoka to reload the bases. But Morimoto grounded to third to shut the rally down. 

In the third, Kensuke Tanaka singled to right and Kudoh tripled to left to knock him in. Seguignol singled to center to see Kudoh in and pump it up to 7-0. 

Yagi had pitched to the minimum over the first three innings, but in the fourth, he walked second baseman Tatsuya Shiokawa and plunked third baseman Daisuke Kusano. First baseman Jose Fernandez pasted one into the leftfield seats for a three run homer to make it 7-3. They would get only one more hit from there on in. 

However, Nippon Ham responded in the fifth when Yang doubled to left against Lin Ying-chieh and Konta reached on an infield hit. Konta stole second. Iiyama singled to left and Yang jogged in and Konta wasn't far behind to balloon it to 9-3. Tsuruoka singled to right. Lin was exchanged for Satoshi Nagai, who twirled a strikeout and a double play to nix further scoring. 

They would pick up two more in the seventh, as Iiyama got aboard on an infield hit aganst Adam Bass, his fourth knock of the contest, with one out and, following another out, Morimoto singled to center. Backup second baseman Naoto Inada tripled to left to get himself two RBIs and run it up to 11-3. 

Everybody in the Fighters starting lineup had at least one hit and Morimoto is now within two of teammate Atsunori Inaba for the hits title. 

Rakuten grounded into three double plays to make it 142 on the season, a new pro yakyu record, eclipsing Yakult's 1006 standard of 141.

For Nippon Ham, Seguignol was 2-4 with two strikeouts and is at .249. Yang was 3-5 and is at .248. 

For Rakuten, Fernandez was 1-3 with an HBP and is at .274.