A bases clearing double by Chiba Lotte Marines rightfielder Saburo Omura brought them from being down 5-4 into a 7-5 victory at Chiba Marine Stadium over Softbank. Hawks starter Kenji Otonari got lit up again, going five innings of four run, five hit ball in a no decision. 

Yoshihisa Naruse started for Lotte seeking to tie Seibu's Hideaki Wakui for most wins in NPB, but he was done up for three runs on seven hits in five innings in a no decision. He still leads Nippon Ham's Yu Darvish by less than a point in ERA, so he became the first man since hall of famer Tadashi Sugiura to compile an ERA under 2.00 and a .900 winning percentage in the same season. 

Marines shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka doubled down the rightfield line and went to third on a sacrifice. Leftfielder Naotaka Takehara singled to left to guide Nishioka in. One out later, catcher Tomoya Satozaki got a fastball and smoked it over the centerfield wall for a 3-0 lead. 

In the second, though, Softbank DH Brian Buchanan singled to left and, one out later, so did first baseman Adam Hyzdu. Omura singled to center to load the bases. Rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara flied out to right and Buchanan tagged up and crossed to make it 3-1. Third baseman Nobuhiro Matsuda struckout to put it asunder. 

They would tighten it up to 3-2 in the fourth,when catcher Hidenori Tanoue got a one out 1-0 fastball right down the middle and lambasted it into the leftfield seats to reduce it to 3-2. Hyzdu singled to center and leftfielder Naoyuki Omura singled to right. But two flyouts to left cut that off at the knees.

Lotte would then run themselves out of an inning in the home edition when Satozaki walked and DH Benny Agbayani was hit on the leg by a changeup. First baseman Jose Ortiz hit a little fly back to Otonari, who threw to second to double Satozaki up. Agbayani subsequently attempted to steal second and was thrown out by Tanoue for the third out. 

The Hawks would equalize it in the fifth, as centerfielder Hitoshi Tamura got a middle out 3-2 fastball and punished it into the leftfield stands. 

That elicited an immediate response from the Marines in their tunr when third baseman Toshiaki Imae got a 1-2 hanging changeup and lined it into the leftfield bleachers to go back up at 4-3. 

It would remain there until the eighth, as Tamura singled to left off of Yusuke Kawasaki and, after Tadahiro Ogino took the ball from Kawasaki, Buchanan singled to center. Buchanan was pinch run for by Tadaatsu Nakazawa. One out later, Hyzdu singled to left to pick up Tamura and Yasuhiko Yabuta was summoned from the bullpen. Naoyuki Omura singled to left, too, to see Nakazawa in to leapfrog to a 5-4 edge. Backup rightfielder Shotaro Ide struckout to end the revolt. 

But Lotte surmounted that in their half of the inning when reserve first baseman Kazuya Fukuura grounded an Akio Mizuta offering into the hole between second and third and beat it out. Koji Mise strode in from the bullpen and Nishioka pushed a bunt between first and the mound and outran it for a hit. They were moved up on a sacrifice. Sub leftfielder Shoitsu Omatsu was intentionally walked to set up a double play opportunity. Omura laced a shot against the rightfield wall and cleaned up the community to send the Marines up 7-5. 

Yabuta was perfect in the ninth and it was time to head back to the hotel. 

Lotte therefore clinched second place. 

For Softbank, Buchanan was 2-4 and is at .283. Hyzdu was 4-4 and is at .276. 

For Lotte, Ortiz was 0-3 and is at .287. Agbayani was 0-2 with a walk and an HBP and is at .271. 

Rakuten rookie phenom Masahiro Tanaka capped off his debut campaign Wednesday by going the distance on one run and five hits while striking out a personal best tying 13 while delivering 131 pitches for his 11th win in a 5-1 decision over Nippon Ham at Miyagi Prefectural Stadium. That clinched fourth place for the Eagles and Tanaka leads both leagues in shiroboshi by a first year hurler to virtually lock up the Rookie of the Year award and he ended a two start string of losses against the Sapporo outfit. 

Ryan Glynn started for the Fighters and went five innings of two unearned run, five hit ball in what was more than anything else a tuneup for him for the playoffs in absorbing the loss. 

Tanaka permitted just a single over the initial three frames and was staked to a lead in the bottom of the third when shortstop Naoto Watanabe walked with one away and second baseman Shintaro Masuda, in his top level pro debut, singled to left for his initial career knock. Third baseman Daisuke Kusano grounded to first baseman Takayuki Takaguchi, who pegged it to shortstop Makoto Kaneko for the force at second, but Kaneko uncorked a wild throw back to first and Watanabe crossed on the error. First baseman Jose Fernandez doubled to right to tally Kusano up for a 2-0 advantage. DH Takeshi Yamasaki flew out to right to hinder further home invasions. 

That would be halved in the fifth when Kaneko singled to right with two outs and centerfielder Morimoto walked. Second baseman Kensuke Tanaka singled to right to turn Kaneko in and make it 2-1. Backup leftfielder Keizo Kawashima slapped a comebacker to Tanaka and they would be no hit until the ninth, the younsgter striking out five in a row during the sixth and seventh innings. 

Mitsuo Yoshikawa nudged Glynn off the bump beginning with the sixth and struckout the side. But in the seventh, he plunked scrubeenie rightfielder Fumitoshi Takano, who went to second on a sacrifice. Watanabe was then hit by a pitch. Masuda doubled to the wall in left and in came Takano and Watanabe. Masuda advanced on a wild pitch. Kusano walked. Fernandez flied out to left and Masuda eased in to stretch it to 5-1. 

Nippon Ham backup catcher Shinya Tsuruoka singled to left with one out in the ninth, but a groundout and a strikeout put it on ice for the Eagles. 

Tanaka now has 196 strikeouts, fourth most all time by a pitcher fresh out of high school. His 186.1 innings is more than Daisuke Matsuzaka walked in his first season in the pros and his K/9 is 9.47, tops among all NPB pitchers qualifying for the ERA title.  

Masuda's short career has been impeded by back and and shoulder issues. 

Morimoto has played in every inning of every game this season. He finished one behind teammate Atsunori Inaba for the hits title. 

Sad sack of the game was DH Tomochika Tsuboi, who struckout all four times he was at the plate for a golden sombrero. 

For Rakuten, Fernandez was 1-3 with a sac fly and is at .275. 

For Nippon Ham, third baseman Yang Chung-shou was 0-4 and is at .239. 

After that happy outcome, they went after Kinko Osaka pitcher Masatomo Uematsu, a 6'0" 176 pounder who held Sho Nakata hitless in 13 official at bats. He was clocked at 89mph. They also believe that he will get bigger and add some velocity. 

In the fourth round, Omuta High pitcher Kazunari Abe's name was called. 

Nippon Ham Reliever Shintaro Ejiri will be out for a year because he needs reconstructive elbow surgery after suffering a torn ligament there. Ejiri was used quite a bit by manager Trey Hillman down the stretch, so this thins their pen during the postseason somewhat. 

That sad news aside, the Fighters got what they most desperately need Wednesday when they won the lottery drawing for Osaka Toin High outfielder Sho Nakata. This is a club that, with the possible release of DH Fernando Seguignol, will be totally bereft of bigtime sock next season plus they got a big name for marketing purposes. Hillman drew the winning ticket and that will be his last contribution to them in terms of  player moves for his Japanese career. He said he would like to wear number 22, which is currently being used by veteran pitcher Yoshinori Tateyama. Retiring infielder Yukio Tanaka, though, has offered him his number six. 

Nakata thinks he would be more cut out for third than the outfield because, he claims, he doesn't have a lot of range and his arm, which has been cloked upwards of 94mph, is "weak." 

He further indicated that it is a goal of his to break Sadaharu Oh's home run world record of 868 and hopes to hit at last 20 his first year. Orix slugger Kazuhiro Kiyohara, who had hoped that Nakata and he would be teammates next season, said through the press that he wants Nakata to try to break his rookie homer record for a player out of high school of 31. 

Two scouts from the Fighters went to Tanaka's school to formally inform him of their selecting him. In addition, 15 tv cameras and 140 writers and commentators invaded Osaka Toin to interview Nakata. 

They also took Kurashiki High pitcher Taiki Tsuda, Hasami High outfielder Shigekazu Ohira, a pitcher from Yokohma Shogyodai High named Matsuyama, Hokuriku Otani High pitcher Akiyoshi Toyoshima and Asahikawa Minami High pitcher Toshinori Asanuma. Asanuma is a southpaw with a whip-like delivery. Usually, that can result in shoulder surgery down the road, perhaps a reason why he went in the seventh round. 

Pitchers Ken Kamakura and Wataru Nakamura were released. 

Orix The Buffaloes released pitchers Shuji Yoshida, Toyoji Matsumura, Kensaku Senoo and Katsumasa Machi as well as catcher Masaru Nagata.

As the consolation prize for not obtaining Sho Nakata, the herd went for 5'10" 180 pound righthand hitting Gifu-jo Kita High outfielder Masaya Niwa, who reportedly posseses tremendous bat speed. But he crashed just 23 homers with the stick as his team's cleanup hitter. 

They subsequently went for some catching help in the third round, welcoming Meitoku Gijuku High's Hikaru Itoh, a 5'11" 165 pounder with a strong arm who needs to work on a quicker release. They believe he will hit some eventually. 

Rakuten With them not being able to land Sendai Ikuei High phenom Yoshinori Sato, the Eagles took Sapporo Minami High righthanded pitcher Ryuhei Terada, who tops out at approximately 90mph. He is only the second man to be drafted out of his high school, which is mostly known for its academics. His parents want him to go to college before turning pro, but he apparenlty decided himself to get his career started early. 

In the third round, they got Tokaidai Gyosei High righthander Ryuji Ishida, who has elicited compaisons to Yomiuri ace Koji Uehara because he aggressively attacks the strike zone. However, he is just a little short of Uehara in velocity, maxing out in the mid-80's. . 

Their final selection was Yasunori Kikuike, a pitcher from Tokiwa University High. 

Seibu The Lions front office will reportedly announce Manager Tsutomu Itoh's firing on the sixth. Former pitcher Hisanobu Watanabe, who is managing in the minors for them, is said to be the likely successor. 

They weren't allowed to select anyone for the first two rounds in the draft. So their first pick was fourth rounder Shota Takekuma, a lefthander with a fastball in the low 80's that he complements with a slider, curve ball and changeup. He has drawn rather facile comparisons to former Orix and Hanshin junk baller Nobuyuki Hoshino, but he may actually be more like a shorter version of Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi. 

Their next pick was Sabae High infielder Naomichi Umeda and they then snared Naruto Kogyo High catcher Shota Nakata, whose main selling point is how quickly he can gun the ball to second base, reportedly under 1.8 seconds, which is excellent. The question si how he will hit and if it is one thing the Lions don't need it is another easy out behind the plate. 

They also took in Kasugabe Kyoei High outfielder Shogo Saito. 

Softbank In the high school draft, they chose Funabashi Municipal High pitcher Sho Iwasaki., who tossed seven no hitters with that team. He has been clocked at 93mph. 

They may also have gotten some much needed help in the power department, scooping up Teikyo High first baseman Akira Nakamura. He has played in three Koshien Tournaments and totaled up 60 homers during his tenure at Teikyo. 

On the fourth round, they went to Sakurai High for Tsubasa Fujii. Fujii is a longshot for any kind of viable career.