The Softbank Hawks just keep rolling along, as they steamrollered the Chiba Lotte Marines Sunday at Chiba Marine Stadium 8-4. Tsuyoshi Wada wasn't as good as in his initial 2007 outing, but his seven innings of three run, two earned, ball on seven hits was decent and bestowed him with his second win of the year. 

Naoyuki Shimizu started for Lotte and was wrecked for seven runs, four earned, on nine hits in just 2.2 innings for the loss. 

Hawks centerfielder Ryuma Kidokoro inaugurated the match by lining a 1-2 pitch into the gap in rightcenter for a double and, one out later, leftfielder Hitoshi Tamura was hit by a pitch. First baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka grounded into a 6-4 force. Third baseman Hiroki Kokubo got a cutter and howitzered it into the leftfield seats for a 3-0 lead. Rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara and DH Brian Buchanan both singled to right, but they were stranded on a strikeout by catcher Katsuki Yamazaki. 

Lotte shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishiioka countered in the bottom half with a double to the wall in right and centerfielder Akira Otsuka singled to left. First baseman Julio Zuleta walked to load the bases and things looked grim for Wada early. But DH Benny Agbayani grounded into a double play and Nishioka crossed to trim it to 3-1. Wada then retired the next six in a row before a man reached on a strikeout-wild pitch and he got seven of the next eight after that to cruise through five. 

In the meantime, Softbank broke it open in the third, as Kokubo singled to left and, one out later, Buchanan singled to center. Yamazaki smoked a shot toward second baseman Masato Watanabe that Watanabe couldn't come up with cleanly and he was charged with an error that jammed the basepaths. Second baseman Yuichi Honda singled to center and Kokubo eased on in. Kidokoro flew out to center and Buchanan tagged up and crossed. Shortstop Munenori Kawasaki went gapping to rightcenter and ended up with a two run triple that made it 7-1 and disposed of Shimizu. 

The Hawks had the bags juiced with one out in the fifth and made them into statuary due to a popup and a flyout. 

Lotte attempted to get back in it in the seventh, as leftfielder Takeshi Aono singled to center and, two outs later, Watanabe singled to left. Nishioka singled to center to slingshot Aono in and Watanabe set the controls for the heart of home plate as well when Kidokoro let the ball get through him for a two base error. Otsuka, though, grounded out to stem the rally. 

Softbank got one of those back in the top of the eighth when Matsunaka blistered a fastball on the inner half of the plate into the rightfield seats to put it at 8-3. 

Yoshiaki Fujioka ascended the mound in the bottom stanza for the Hawks and former teammate Julio Zuleta said hello by socking a fastball into the centerfield stands to shave it to 8-4. Lotte would get just one more hit after that, and it was liquidated on a game ending double play in the ninth. 

For Softbank, Buchanan was 2-4 and is at .370. Keep in mind that Zuleta went out of the gate rather slowly last season and it bogged the team down, so the production that they are getting form the former Padre and from Honda has been huge. 

For Lotte, Zuleta was 2-3 and is at .273. He went 4-10 in this series. Agbayani was 0-4 and is at .263. 

Yoshinori Tateyama, who has largely been a reliever during his career with Nippon Ham, asked to be converted into a starter during his offseason salary negotiations, so he made his first start since August 19, 2001 Sunday and assembled six shutout innings on five hits while striking out five without walking anyone on 84 pitches for a 6-3 victory over Seibu at Sapporo Dome. 

Fighters centerfielder Hichori Morimoto beat out a ground ball toward third to open the bottom of the first and went to second on a sacrifice.  Leftfielder Tomochika Tsuboi, who has historically been terrible with runners in scoring position, singled to center to spring Morimoto home for a 1-0 lead. 

Tateyama permitted only a hit over the first three innings, but that runner was eliminated on a double play ball, so he pitched to the minimum in that span. 

He was then given more room for error in the last of the third when second baseman Kensuke Tanaka singled to left with one out and Tsuboi walked. One out later, rightfielder Atsunori Inaba got a slider down in the zone and he nine ironed it into the rightfield bleachers to make it 4-0. 

The Fighters had two on and one out in the fifth, but Inaba bounded into a twin killing to sabotage it. 

Tateyama was afflicted with a two on and two out bit of bad business in the top of the sixth, but first baseman Alex Cabrera grounded out and Tateyama's day was done. 

Another two on and one out chance for Nippon Ham was interdicted in the bottom of the frame on a double play ball. 

The Lions then nearly evened it in the seventh against reliever Hisashi Takeda, as DH Jeff Liefer singled to right with one out and Takeda plunked third baseman Takeya Nakamura. Hiroyuki Oshima pinch hit for catcher Toru Hosokawa and cranked a double to right that cleared enough running room for Liefer and Nakamura to sail to the plate. Rightfielder Takumi Kuriyama walked. Centerfielder Kazuki Fukuchi reached on an infield hit to pack the sacks. Second baseman Yasuyuki Kataoka singled to right to get Oshima home, but Morimoto gunned Kuriyama down at the dish. Takeda hit shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima with a pitch. However, Cabrera struckout to douse the fire. 

Morimoto then came up in the last of the inning and singled to right and went to second on a sacrifice. He tagged up on a fly ball and advanced to third. DH Fernando Seguignol, hitting .250, was intentionally walked in order to pitch to Inaba, who is over .300. Inaba doubled to right and Morimoto jogged across for some insurance and a 5-3 lead. 

Takeda had more problems in the eighth. Leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada doubled to left and two outs later, backup catcher Kosuke Noda walked. Closer Michael Nakamura was introduced into the game and mishandled Kuriyama's grounder for an error that loaded the bases. But Fukuchi grounded to third and Nakamura struckout the side in the ninth to wrap it up. 

The final Fighters run was a combination of Nakajima's error in the bottom of the eighth and a two out triple to right by shortstop Makoto Kaneko that grew it to 6-3. 

It has been seven years since Tateyama has won a start, that being when he beat Lotte at Tokyo Dome despite surrendering five runs in 2000. 

Wada has seven straight multihit games, one off the team record. 

For Nippon Ham, Seguignol was 1-3 with a walk and is at .250. Third baseman Andy Green was 1-3 and is at .259. 

For Seibu, Cabrera was 0-5 with two strikeouts and is at .172. Manager Tsutomu Itoh is contemplating secind Cabrera down until he can get his groove back. Liefer was 1-4 and is at .375. 

When Masato Yoshii finally decides to hang his spikes up he will long remember this strange day at Miyagi Prefectural Stadium, as he was victimized by two grand slams in one inning and none of them counted against his ERA in a 10-1 defeat to Rakuten. It is the first time in Pacific League history that a single hurler has served up a pair of grannies in the same stanza and only the second time in history overall.

Ultimately, Yoshii finished with a line that read 2.2 innings, eight runs, four hits, no strikeouts and four walks to decline to 0-2. 

The beneficiary of Yoshii's generosity was Eagles starter Koji Aoyama, who was superb. He went eight innings of one run, seven hit ball and he has both of his team's wins this season, ending their four game losing streak. 

Aoyama was near perfect over the first three innings, a walk being the only baserunner he had to deal with. 

In the bottom half, DH Takeshi Yamasaki singled to left and went to second on a sacrifice. One out later, Buffs third baseman Greg LaRocca booted second baseman Yosuke Takasu's grounder. Rightfielder Koichi Isobe walked to load the bases. Third baseman Jose Fernandez tied into a forkball and massacred it, rocketing a monster bomb to left for a 4-0 lead. Yoshii plunked shortstop Daisuke Kusano. Leftfielder Fumitoshi Takano singled to center. First baseman Kevin Witt walked to reload the bases. Yamasaki got an 0-1 forkball and torched it over the leftfield wall and it was 8-0 and Orix skipper Terry Collins went out and got Yoshii, who was sent to the showers in favor Mamoru Kishida, who obtained the final out of the inning. 

Aoyama gave up a single in both the fourth and fifth, but double plays neutralized them. 

Orix wouldn't dent Aoyama until the seventh, when DH Tuffy Rhodes walked with one away and, following a strikeout, rightfielder Shinji Shimoyama beat out a ground ball. Leftfielder Arihito Muramatsu singled to center and Rhodes hit paydirt to make it 8-1. 

In the home ups, though, Takasu doubled to right and, one out later, Fernandez singled to center for his fifth RBI for a 9-1 advantage. 

Lance Carter mosied to the center of the diamond for the herd in the eighth and struckout the first two men he saw, but he walked catcher Motohiro Shima and balked him to second. Centerfielder Teppei Tsuchiya singled to right and Shima crossed to up it to 10-1. 

Rookie Satoshi Nagai retired three of the four men he faced in his pro debut in the ninth and that was that. It is said that Nagai will be groomed for a future starting opportunity. 

Eagles shot caller Katsuya Nomura was going to bench the slumping Yamasaki, but the veteran was 4-9 last season against Yoshii, so he was left in and did some damage. 

It was only the third time in NPB annals that the same team has blasted grannies in the same inning. The only other pitcher to be lit up for a pair of slams in an inning was Takahiro Kanamori of Chunich against Hanshin during the mid-1990's. Only one other pitcher has given up two slams in an entire game, that being Yakult's Dicky Gonzalez. 

For Orix, LaRocca was 1-2 and is at .480. Rhodes was 0-3 and is at .318. 

For Rakuten, Fernandez was 2-4 and is at .250. Witt was 0-3 and is at .200. 

Rakuten Yasuhiro Ichiba may start on the seventh against Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium. He will pitch in a simulated game on the third and if he does well in that then the start could be on. 

In addition, Rui Makino might start on the fourth against Nippon Ham. 

Hisashi Iwakuma, who is on the shelf with inflammed back muscles, will be held out of throwing for betwen seven to ten days and thus most likely won't return until sometime in May. 

Seibu Pitcher Jason Johnson will return to the U.S. in the coming days to have his ailing elbow looked at. Manager Tsutomu Itoh hopes that Johnson will be back with the team in ten days or so, but we'll see.