Seibu starter Fumiya Nishiguchi was seeking his 150th career victory Tuesday, but he was shellacked for six runs, four earned, on seven hits in 5.1 innings and was the loser here because Nippon Ham starter Masaru Takeda went eight innngs of two run, four hit ball while striking out six and walking none to pad the Fighters lead in the Pacific League standings by another game. 

Nippon Ham centerfielder Hichori Morimoto singled to center in the first and went to second on a sacrifice. One out later, DH Fernando Seguignol walked. Catcher Shinji Takahashi singled to left and Morimoto dashed in for a 1-0 lead. Leftfielder Tomochika Tsuboi walked to load the bases, but third baseman Eiichi Koyano grounded to short to torpedo the rally. 

Takeda had permitted a single by the first Lions batter of the contest and then retired ten in a row. But in the fourth, shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima stood in the batter's box for Seibu with one out and pasted a Takeda delivery into the rightfield seats to equalize it at 1-1. 

However, Tsuboi kicked off the home ups with a double to left and went to third on a groundout. First baseman Mitch Jones flied out to left and Tsuboi tagged up and crossed to make it 2-1. 

The Lions roared back to tie it again in the sixth when centerfielder Tomoaki Sato went yard to left and it was 2-2. 

Unfortunately for the Tokorozawa nine, the Fighters were able to retalite once more. Takahashi got aboard on an infield hit to commence the bottom portion and Tsuboi put down what was supposed to be a sacrifice, but catcher Toru Hosokawa muffed it. One out later, Jones walked to fill the bags. Nishiguchi threw a slider and shortstop Makoto Kaneko carromed it off the centerfield wall to dispatch everybody to the plate on a two bagger. One out later, second baseman Kensuke Tanaka singled to right to shuttle Kaneko in and put it at 6-2. 

It was over at that point, as Takeda was tagged for only more single in his final two innings and rookie Takayuki Kanamori banished three of the four men he faced in the ninth to lock the W up. 

The last Fighters tally was in the eighth when Jones took Chikara Onodera into the great wide open in leftcenter for his first NPB roundtripper. 

Seibu thus failed to get back to .500 and the defeat ash canned their four game win spree. 

For Nippon Ham, Seguignol was 2-3 with a walk and is at .265. Jones was 1-2 with a walk and a sac fly and is at .214. 

For Seibu, first baseman Alex Cabrera was 1-3 and is at .335. 

The Rakuten Golden Eagles put the Softbank Hawks in an even bigger hole in the PL pennant race Tuesday at Morioka, Iwate Prefecture by sinking them 8-6. Masahiro Tanaka went 6.1 innings of three run, six hit ball before a liner off of his left wrist resulted in him departing the scene and the bullpen barely avoided giving it away to secure the win. 

Nagisa Arakaki started for Softbank and stunk it up to the tune of five runs (four earned) on six hits in 5.1 innings and also threw his 19th wild pitch, one off of the pro yakyu record, in absorbing his sixth loss. 

The Hawks dented Tanaka in the second when third baseman Hiroki Kokubo singled to left with one out and, following another out, centerfielder Hitoshi Tamura singled to left as well. Catcher Hiroaki Takaya doubled up the rightcenter alley and the fleetfooted Tamura blazed home from first for a 2-0 lead. 

Rakuten was then given a run in their time at bat in the inning, as leftfielder Rick Short singled to left with one out and third baseman Daisuke Kusano walked. Short tagged up and moved to third on a flyout. Shortstop Naoto Watanabe grounded hard to Kokubo's left and he couldn't grab it cleanly, Short scoring on the error to make it 2-1. Catcher Motohiro Shima grounded out and they would obtain only one more hit through five. 

Softbank retrieved that run in the third, as second baseman Yuichi Honda singled to center with one out and was thrown out attempting to steal second. Shortstop Munenori Kawasaki walked. DH Nobuhiko Matsunaka singled to left. Kokubo singled to left and Honda toed the dish to put it at 3-1. Rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara grounded out, though and Tanaka put eight of the next nine away before that liner compelled him to be replaced in the seventh. 

Arakaki's command would then just go up in smoke in the sixth. DH Takeshi Yamasaki singled to center with one out and Short singled to right. Kusano doubled to righcenter and Yamasaki rumbled to the plate. Arakaki uncorked a wild pitch and Short raced in. First baseman Yuji Yoshioka singled to right and Kusano crossed. Yoshioka was pinch run for by Fumikazu Takanami. Jason Stanridge was passed the ball and Watanabe walked. Jose Fernandez, pinch hitting for Shima, singled to right  Takayuki Shinohara took over for Stanridge and centerfielder Teppei Tsuchiya singled to right to spring Takanami in. Second baseman Yosuke Takasu doubled off the rightfield fence for two RBIs and a bad relay to the plate by Honda allowed Tsuchiya to cross and grow it to 8-3. 

Koki Watanabe was brought in for Tanaka in the seventh and got through the inning on a hit, but in the eighth, Kawasaki doubled down the leftfield line and went to third on a passed ball. Matsunaka flied out to right and Kawasaki tagged up and went home to make it 8-4. 

Rui Makino was tapped to attempt to put this thing in the bag in the ninth for Rakuten, but Shibahara slashed a shot off the glove of Takasu for a hit and Tamura thumped a first pitch breaking ball into the leftcenterfield stands to shrink the lead to 8-6. Closer Kazuo Fukumori was put in Makino's stead and he struck pinch hitter Brian Buchanan out. But Matsunaka booted Matsuda's grounder. It wouldn't matter, as leftfielder Naoyuki Omura grounded into a game ending twin killing to off the Ragles three game losing skid. 

For Rakuten, Short was 4-4 and is at .332. Fernandez was 1-2 and is at .220. 

For Softbank, Buchanan was 0-1 and is at .267. 

A two run opposite field homer by Orix DH Tuffy  Rhodes dissolved a 2-2 standoff in the top of the 11th Tuesday to ultimately down the Chiba Lotte Marines 4-3 at Chiba Marine Stadium. Hidetaka Kawagoe started for the herd and went seven innings of one run, seven hit ball and struckout seven in a no decision. Therefore, the win was laid on reliever Mamoru Kishida, who struggled through 1.2 innings of one run, four hit pitching. 

Yoshihisa Naruse started for Lotte and was just flat outstanding, going eight innings of one run, four hit ball before surrendering the lead in the ninth and getting pulled. 

Orix had two on and two out in the top of the first and that went asunder on a groundout. Lotte then went out to a shortlived lead in the home version when centerfielder Daisuke Hayakawa, who was named to the Pacific League all star team, singled to left with one out and first baseman Kazuya Fukuura singled to right. One out later, catcher Tomoya Satozaki singled to right and rang in Hayakawa to make it 1-0. Leftfielder Shoitsu Omatsu grounded one through the right side. Fukuura rounded third and aimed for home, but rightfielder Shinji Shimoyama's throw to the plate was ahead of Fukuura and the inning was over. 

Shimoyama then came up in the third with two outs and leaned into a 1-2 middle-out heater and crushed it into the centerfield bleachers to knot it at one apiece. Naruse would retire 12 of the next 13 to cruise through seven. 

The Marines left a man on second with two outs in the last of the frame and then put two on with two gone in the fourth, but they languished there when second baseman Shunichi Nemoto grounded out and Kawagoe would give up only one more hit before he was asked to have a seat for the night. 

The Buffs eventually mounted a challenge to Naruse in the eighth, as second baseman Masahiro Abe singled to center and went to second on a sacrifice. One out later, centerfielder Hiroaki Onishi walked. But Shimoyama popped up to first.

However, they would finally get to Naruse in the ninth. Third baseman Greg LaRocca doubled to leftcenter and Rhodes walked. That was it for Naruse, who was stood in for by Tadahiro Ogino. First baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, but it nonetheless got LaRocca over to third. Leftfielder Chad Allen singled to right and LaRocca loped in to send the Buffaloes up 2-1. Abe grounded to third to put the kabosh on any further homeward incursions and now it would be up to Lotte to try to rectify the situation against closer Daisuke Kato in the bottom stanza. 

Omatsu doubled to the wall in left and was pinch run for by Takenori Daita. DH Matt Watson walked. Masahiko Tanaka pinch ran for Watson. Masato Watanabe pinch hit for third baseman Takeshi Aono in order to sacrifice the runners over, but Watanabe bunted it right back to Kato, who threw to third for the force on Daita. One out later, shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka doubled to leftcenter and Tanaka came around to tie it up at two. Hayakawa was intentionally walked to get to Fukuura, who hit it hard, but right to shortstop Keiji Obiki and into extra time it went. 

Neither side mustered anything in the tenth. But in the 11th, Yasuhiko Yabuta was entrusted with the ball for Lotte and he walked Shimoyama. One out later, Rhodes brutalized a first pitch 88mph knee high fastball into the first row of the leftfield seats for a 4-2 advantage. 

Marines pinch hitter Hisao Heiuchi, though, doubled off the rightfield fence with one out against Kishida in the bottom segment and went to third on a groundout. Nishioka singled to left and Heiuchi reported to narrow the gap to 4-3. Hayakawa grounded one into the hole between first and second and Abe cut it off, but the throw to first was late. Shuhi Yoshida was substituted for Kishida and Fukuura walked to pack the sacks. Yoshida exited and in came Masanobu Okubo, whose second pitch was lifted to left by rightfielder Saburo Omura and it was game setto. 

Kawagoe attained 1000 career innings in this contest. 

For Lotte, Benny Agbayani was 1-1 in a pinch hit appearance and is at .307. Watson was 0-2 with two walks and is at .230. 

For Orix, Rhodes, who was named to the PL all star squad, was 2-3 with two walks and is at .292. LaRocca was 1-5 and is at .300. Allen was 1-4 with two strikeouts and is at .283. 

The final all star voting results were announced Monday and not one Fighters player was nominated by the fans for the midsummer classic, the first time in Pacific League history that nobody from a Japan Series winner out of its circuit was honored with an all star berth the following year. It has happened in the Central League, the last one being in the case of Yomiuri in 2003. 

The irony here is that eight Rakuten players were voted in, replicating a feat the Fighters pulled off in 1978, a Pacific League record. 

Orix DH Kazuhiro Kiyohara will now indeed be out for the season after it was revealed that he will have his knees operated on again. He hopes to play again next season, but one would think he will absorb a huge paycut and it will be interesting to see if his pride makes him decide to retire. 

Rakuten Slugger Takeshi Yamasaki, who is leading all of Japanese baseball in homers, was the top vote getter among all NPB players in all star balloting. Yamasaki was a two time all star while he was with Chunichi, so this will be his third trip to that series. He was named MVP in game two of the 2000 series. 

Reliever Akira Matsumoto, who was inexplicably voted on to the all star team by fans despite spending most of the last month in the minors, will miss the all star series due to what is said to be a groin injury. 

Catcher Motohiro Shima, who is batting under the Mendoza Line, was number one among Pacific League catchers, thus becoming the first rookie backstop to be so honored since Hanshin receiver Koichi Tabuchi back in 1969. 

Masahiro Tanaka became the first pitcher fresh out of high school to win the starting pitcher nod from the fans for the PL since Daisuke Matsuzaka in 1999. He will start the second game of the all star series at Miyagi Prefectural Stadium and said that he will throw all fastballs. 

Seibu Outfielder Kazuhiro Wada, who has qualified for free agency, said Monday that he will look at all of his options as to whether to move to another club or stay. 

Softbank Ace Kazumi Saito won't be starting for the Hawks on the tenth after all. In fact, he won't be back until sometime in early August now.