Seibu rookie righthander Takayuki Kishi spun a complete game shutout on four hits and struckout five without walking anyone in a 2-0 victory over Nippon Ham at Seibu Dome. Kishi became the first Lions hurler to fashion a walkless whitewash in his first year after leaving the amateur ranks in 43 years. 

Ryan Glynn started for the Fighters and went seven innings of one run, five hit ball in his sixth loss to go to 8-6 with a 2.42 ERA. 

Seibu had men on first and third with two outs in the second, but a strikeout undermined it. 

Kishi was perfect for the first four innings and was applauded for it in the bottom half, as DH Kazuhiro Wada doubled to right with one out and and leftfielder Takumi Kuriyama singled to left to spring Wada in for a 1-0 lead. That was their last hit through seven. 

Nippon Ham rightfielder Takahito Kudoh singled to center with two outs in the fifth to break up the perfecto and Kishi then retired the next five after that before DH Atsunori Inaba singled to right int he seventh. Inaba was liquidated on a double play ball.

In the eighth, Seibu third baseman Yoshihito Ishii singled to center and went to second on a sacrifice. One out later, shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima doubled to left and Ishii sojourned home to make it 2-0. 

Kishi then put away three of four in the ninth to put it in the books. 

This was Kishi's second shutout of the year and he has a nice ERA of 3.34. It was also his first appearance since July 14th, but he was none the worse for the layoff. 

The last man to do what Kishi did was Toshihiko Sei back when they club was still under the Nishitetsu rubric.

For Nippon Ham, first baseman Fernando Seguignol was 0-3 and is at .247. 

For Seibu, first baseman Alex Cabrera struckout three times and walked in his first game back from a leg injury and is at .328. 

The Softbank Hawks completed a long climb back Tuesday from mediocrity, as they seized thier seventh victory in a row with a 5-3 verdict over Orix at Fukuoka Dome. Tsuyoshi Wada started for the birds of prey and became the first man to have five straight ten win seasons beginning his rookie year since hall of famer Tadashi Sugiura with 7.2 innings of three run (two earned) ball on seven hits while striking out nine. 

Yoshihisa Hirano started for the Buffaloes and is still zero for his career against Softbank, as he went 2.2 innings of five run, nine hit ball to regress to 6-8. 

Orix had two on and two out in the first, but that went asunder on a strikeout. 

The Hawks then slapped Hirano around in the bottom half and would never look back. Leftfielder Naoyuki Omura singled to center and shortstop Munenori Kawasaki grounded into a 4-6 force. Centerfielder Hitoshi Tamura, who was zip for his last three games, singled to left. DH Nobuhiko Matsunaka singled to right and Kawasaki sped home. Third baseman Hiroki Kokubo singled to left to load the bases. One out later, first baseman Brian Buchanan, who is hitting just a little over .300 with runners in scoring position, rammed a shot off the centerfield wall for a bases clearing double and a 4-0 lead. 

In the second, Kawasaki singled to left with two outs and stole second. Tamura rattled the centerfield fence with a double and Kawasaki cruised in to make it 5-0. 

They juiced the bags again in the third with two outs, but Kawasaki struckout and they would only amass three scattered hits after that. 

The herd finally issued a response in the fifth when second baseman Masahiro Abe walked and went to second on a groundout. One out later, centerfielder Hiroaki Onishi creamed one off the leftfield wall for an RBI double to cut it to 5-1. 

They further whittled that down in the sixth, as third baseman Greg LaRocca grounded one deep into the hole at short and Kawasaki threw wildly to allow LaRocca to get to second on what was ruled an infield hit and an error. Two outs later, leftfielder Chad Allen singled to center and drove LaRocca in to draw within 5-2. 

LaRocca came up again in the eighth and he shoved a one out first pitch hanging breaking ball into the leftfield bleachers to make it a two run ballgame at 5-3. One out later, first baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa singled to right to bring Allen up as the tying run. Closer Takahiro Mahara was waved in and he popped Allen up and then worked a 1-2-3 ninth to preserve the triumph. 

Aside from Sugiura, two other Hawks pitchers equalied Wada's feat, Susumu Yuki and Nobuo Nakatani. All three of those OB (retired veterans) were during the Nankai era. Wada has won his last four decisions. 

Softbank is now a season best 13 over .500.

For Orix, LaRocca was 2-4 and is at .298. DH Tuffy Rhodes was 0-3 with two strikeouts and is at .309. Allen was 2-4 and is at .275. 

For Softbank, Buchanan was 2-4 and is at .281. 

The Chiba Lotte Marines still haven't gotten untracked after the all star break, as starter Masato Yoshii was plowed under for six runs on ten hits in three innings in an 11-7 loss to Rakuten. Hisashi Iwakuma started for the Eagles and went six innings of three run, six hit ball on a season high 114 pitches for just his second win to put his side back in fifth.

Rakuten second baseman Yosuke Takasu and centerfielder Teppei Tsuchiya both singled to right in the first with one out and, one out later, leftfielder Rick Short singled to left to register Takasu at the pay station for a 1-0 lead. Rightfielder Koichi Isobe flied out to leave them loitering. 

Lotte put two on with nobody out in the second, but squandered it on a popup, a groundout and a strikeout. 

Rakuten then enlarged its advantage in the third when Tsuchiya singled to left with one away and DH Takeshi Yamasaki walked. Short singled to right to load the bases. Isobe singled to center and invited both Tsuchiya and Yamasaki home to make it 3-0. First baseman Jose Fernandez brought the festivities to a screechng halt by grounding into a double play. 

However, in the fourth, Rakuten third baseman Daisuke Kusano beat out a ground ball and so did catcher Motohiro Shima. Shortstop Naoto Watanabe singled to left and Kusano scored. Satoru Komiyama was exchanged for Yoshii and, Takasu hit a ground ball that Komiyama pounced on and fired to third for the force on Shima. Tsuchiya doubled to the wall in right and Watanabe reported. Yamasaki unloaded a screamer to the leftcenterfield wall for a two RBI double to hike it to 7-0. One out later, Isobe walked, but Fernandez flew out to right and he would be the only starter without a hit in the game. 

Watanabe doubled to rightcenter with two outs in the fifth off of Komiyama and Takasu singled to left to get Watanabe in and pump it up to 8-0. 

In the sixth, though, Iwakuma plunked rightfielder Saburo Omura and second baseman Jose Ortiz isngeld to center. Leftfielder Benny Agbayani walked to swell the bags. One out later, DH Shoitsu Omatsu grounded to second and Omura was in while the out was made at first. Third baseman Toshiaki Imae singled to right and spurred two more in to narrow it to 8-3. 

And they would sort of get back into it in the seventh, as Omura singled to center with two outs off of Koki Watanabe, who was spelled by Hisashi Ogura. Ortiz rolled one into the hole between first and second, where it was snared by Takasu, but the throw to first was late. Agbayani walked to jam the basepaths. Hiroki Yamamura was passed the ball and catcher Tomoya Satozaki singled to left to ring in Omura and Ortiz and get within 8-5. Omatsu flew out to center to stall the attack. 

The Eagles then bullied reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta in the eighth. With two gone, Tsuchiya doubled off the rightfield wall and Yamasaki walked. Short doubled to the wall in left and Tsuchiya traveled home. Akihisa Makita pinch ran for Short. Isobe grounded one to the right of first baseman Kazuya Fukuura, who couldn't handle it cleanly for an error, permitting Yamasaki and Makita to cross before it was coralled to tear it open to 11-5. 

Satoshi Nagai, who was flawless for Rakuten in the eighth, went back out to pitch the ninth and Fukuura singled to center. Omura got a fastball right down the middle and toasted it into the leftfield seats to make it 11-7. Closer Shinichiro Koyama entered the arena and crashed a shot off the top of the leftfield wall for a double. Agbayani walked. But Fernandez struckout, Omatsu popped up and Imae went down on strikes and the comeback fizzled. 

For Rakuten, Short was 3-5 and is at .324. Fernandez was 0-5 with two strikeouts and is at .236. 

For Lotte, Ortiz was 3-5 and is at .321. Agbayani was 1-2 with three walks and is at .196. 

Seibu After his car was totaled in a parking lot accident (he wasn't behind the wheel at the time) this spring, pitcher Takayuki Kishi bought a 20 foot long RV for around $65,000. He just took delivery of it this week. I can see something like that in Japan's rural regions such as Kishi's native Sendai, but in the rabbit warren of streets that is the Tokyo metro area that has to be a tough proposition negotiating the roads there. 

Softbank Righthander Nagisa Arakaki hurt an oblique muscle while throwing in the bullpen Tuesday and was taken off the roster.