A two run single by catcher Toru Hosokawa capped off a three run eighth for Seibu after being in arrears 2-1 to Orix at Seibu Dome Tuesday for a 4-2 victory. Hideaki Wakui started for the Lions and went the distance on two runs and eight hits while throwing 147 pitches to improve to 5-1. 

Masato Yoshii started for the Buffaloes and was excellent, five innings of one unearned run ball on four hits in a no decision. 

Orix first baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa singled to left in the second and rightfielder Shinji Shimoyama reached on an infield hit. They were moved up on a sacrifice and catcher Takeshi Hidaka flied out to right so that Kitagawa could tag up and cross for a 1-0 lead. 

But that was shortlived, as Seibu leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada doubled to left with one out in the home version and DH Jeff Liefer walked. Rightfielder Takahiko Sato grounded to Kitagawa, who made a wild flip to Yoshii covering and while the ball was rolling around Wada hustled to the plate to knot it at one apiece. A flyout and a strikeout kept it there. 

Orix collected only one hit between the third and the sixth as Wakui imposed a clampdown with grounders and strikeouts. The Lions loaded the bases against Yoshii in the fifth with one out, but the veteran induced a double play ball to monkey wrench that uprising. 

Wakui was then pressed in the seventh when Orix packed the sacks with one away, but he delivered up two more groundouts to silence the revolt. 

In the eighth, though, Buffs third baseman Greg LaRocca smoked a Wakui pitch over the centerfield wall to put the herd up 2-1.

Daisuke Kato was called on for the eighth for Orix and shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima singled to center with one out. First baseman Alex Cabrera singled to right. Wada singled to center and that tied it at two. One out later, Kato unleashed a wild pitch and it was determined that they would put Sato on to face the much less likely to go deep Hosokawa. But Hosokawa spanked a single to center and the Lions had a 4-2 lead and Kato was relieved by Yasunari Takagi, who reloaded the bases on a walk but ultimately got out of the inning without further damage being done. 

In the ninth, however, leftfielder Arihito Muramatsu singled to center to begin the inning. A strikeout and a lineout to third ensued, but centerfielder Hiroaki Onishi walked to put the tying run on. Shortstop Keiji Obiki hit a little liner to Wakui, who caught it, and it was over. 

For Seibu, first baseman Alex Cabrera was 2-4 and is at .291. Liefer was 0-2 with two walks and is at .253. 

For Orix, LaRocca was 2-4 and is at .358. DH Tuffy Rhodes was 0-2 with twl walks and two strikeouts and is at .260. 

A three run homer in the first by first baseman Nobuhiko  Matsunaka was all Softbank starter Toshiya Sugiuchi needed, as he went eight innings of two run, five hit ball on a sterling 109 pitches for his fourth win of the year in a 3-2 victory over Rakuten at Fukuoka Dome. Eagles starter Satoshi  Nagai, following the bomb, settled in and did a fine job over the remainder of his six innings and allowed only two hits from the second through the end of his night. But he was still saddled with his first loss. 

Hawks centerfielder Naoyuki Omura singled to right to commence the bottom of the first and second baseman Yuichi Honda stroked grounder off the glove of first baseman Rick Short and into rightfield for a single. One out later, Nagai got a 1-1 fastball up and in to Matsunaka, who was looking for it, and he stepped out and tomahawked it deep into the rightfield seats for a 3-0 lead. A great adjustment by a great hitter. 

Rakuten got two of those back in the fourth when rightfielder Koichi Isobe singled to center and DH Jose Fernandez torched a fastball into the leftfield bleachers to make it 3-2. Short doubled off the rightcenterfield wall and went to third on a groundout. But another groundout and a popup made that the last hurrah for the Eagles, as Sugiuchi and closer Takahiro Mahara went on to retire 13 of the next 15 hitters after that (one man was picked off and the other was eliminated on a double play) to ice it. 

The Hawks have won all seven games that Matsunaka has homered in this season. In a series with Rakuten at Sendai last season, the Eagles threw up and in on him frequently, which is why Matsunaka was expecting Nagai's pitch to be where it was. In most cases, that should have been a popup. 

The Eagles have now dropped five in a row and are 0-5-1 in their last six times out. It was also their 200th loss (against 96 wins and six ties) in their short history and they are the second fastest to that mark to Hiroshima, who attained it in 292 games while it took the Eagles 302. 

For Softbank, DH Brian Buchanan was 1-4 and is at .286. Rightfielder Adam Hyzdu was 0-3 with a walk and also made a nifth slding catch on Yosuke Takasu's dying quail in the fifth and he is at .292. 

For Rakuten, Fernandez was 1-3 with a walk and is at .245. Short was 1-3 with a walk and is at .321. 

Seibu Former Yomiuri Giant Junichi Kawahara was brought up to the top team while outfielder Hiroyuki Shibata was dispatched to the bushes. 

Softbank First baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka qualified for free agency in terms of his service time, but he still has several years remaining on a seven season contract, so he will retire in Japan and probably be inducted into the hall of fame when it's over. 

Tsuyoshi Wada will return to action Wednesday in a start against Rakuten after he had been away with back trouble.