Seibu starter Hideaki Wakui has put himself at the head of the line in the competition for the Sawamura Award, as he went eight innings of one run, seven hit ball and struckout nine for his 15th win in a 7-1 decision over Orix at Seibu Dome. Buffaloes starter Yuki Tanaka went 3.1 innings of three run ball on seven hits to run his record to 4-4. 

Orix had two on and one out in the first, but that was frittered away on a strikeout and a groundout. 

The Lions reacted in the home version with a jack into the centerfield seats by shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima for a 1-0 lead. 

The herd put two more on with one out in the second, but a flyout and strikeout buried it. Wakui would retire 12 of the next 13 after that to get through six. 

Seibu had two on and one out in the last of the second, but a double play killed it off. 


They put two more on with two outs in the third, but a flyout stalled that out.

The Lions would finally make more headroom in the fourth, as third baseman Takeya Nakamura walked with one out and DH Yoshihito Ishii singled to center. Catcher Toru Hosokawa doubled to left and Nakamura and Ishii both chugged home to make it 3-0. 

Seibu leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada then walked in the fifth with two outs and Nakamura doubled to left to clear enough temporal room to sprint home and enjoy a 4-0 advantage. 

They would put it on ice in the sixth, as pinch hitter Tomoaki Sato singled to center and went to second on a sacrifice. Nakajima singled to left. One out later, rightfielder Takahiko Sato doubled to left and both speedsters flashed around the basepaths. Wada singled to center and Takahiko Sato came home to roost to put it at 7-0. 

Orix would put two on with one out in the seventh, but a pair of groundouts paralyzed the runners. 

In the eighth, though, centerfielder Shinji Shimoyama singled to center and pinch hitter Masahiro Abe singled to right, Shimoyama turning and burning for third. One out later, reserve rightfielder Hiroaki Onishi flied out to right and Shimoyama tagged up and ran in to slice it to 7-1.  

They would put two more on with two outs in the ninth, but a lineout to short made it game setto. 

Buffaloes DH Tuffy Rhodes struckout three times in this game and was pinch hit for in the eighth. You will understand that further when you see that Wakui had struck Rhodes out seven of the nine times the two men squared off in 2007. 

For Seibu, first baseman Alex Cabrera was 1-3 with a walk and is at .319. 

For Orix, third baseman Greg LaRocca was 1-2 with a walk and is at .292. Rightfielder Chad Allen was 0-2 and was removed from the game after crashing into the wall in the fourth on a Wada fly ball and hurting his back. He is at .270. 

Yoshihisa Naruse, not Masahiro Tanaka, continues to be the young pitching story of the year, as he went the distance at Sapporo Dome for the Chiba Lotte Marines in a five hit, eight strikeout, no walk 2-0 shutout against Nippon Ham Sunday to seize the series two games to one. It was the third whitewash for Naruse this season and it lowered his already microscopic ERA to 1.70. 

Ryan Glynn started for the Fighters and you won't hear manager Trey Hillman grousing about what the former Brave delivered here, 6.2 innings of one unearned run ball on three hits, three strikeouts and three walks to inherit a tough seventh loss. 

Marines shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka walked to kick the game off and he immediately took off and stole second, advancing to third when catcher Shinji Takahashi threw the ball into centerfield. Centerfielder Daisuke Hayakawa flied out to right and Nishioka tagged up and crossed for a 1-0 lead. 

Lotte would get only two singles through six and one of those was disarmed on a double play. 

Nippon Ham DH Fernando Seguignol doubled down the leftfield line with two outs in the fourth, but Takahashi struckout and that would be the closest they would ever get to pushing back against Naruse, who didn't permit anyone to touch third. 

The Marines loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh against Glynn and reliever Shintaro Ejiri, but a foulout to third cashiered that. 

However, in the eighth, Hayakawa tripled down the rightfield line and first baseman Kazuya Fukuura singled to left to make it 2-0. 

Naruse was perfect over the last two innings to wind things up. 

It was Naruse's first ever walkless shutout and he did it on a season high 136 pitches. He is also 3-0 against the Fighters in 2007 and has gotten Lotte within four games of the top slot.

For Nippon Ham, Seguignol was 2-4 and is at .260. Third baseman Yang Chung-shou struckout in both of his at bats and is at .237. 

For Lotte, second baseman Jose Ortiz was 2-4 and is at .286. DH Benny Agbayani was 0-3 with a walk and is at .284. 

Rakuten Golden Eagles second baseman Yosuke Takasu, who has had so many big hits for them this season, had the most significant knock of this mact with Softbank, rattling the leftfield foul pole with a man on in the fifth in his first homer of the campaign for a 2-1 victory at Miyagi Prefectural Stadium. Satoshi Nagai went 7.1 innings on a run and four hits for his first win as a starter since May. 

Rookie Kenji Otonari started for the Hawks and went five innings of two run, eight hit ball for his second defeat. 

Nagai walked two in the first, but three groundouts enabled him to wriggle out of it. He would then retire 11 of the next 14, one of those who reached being on an error and another on an infield hit, through five. 

Otonari was confronted by a two on and one out dilemma in the first, but a double play ball bailed him out. 

Rakuten would have two more on in the third with one gone, but a flyout and a strikeout rid Otonari of the difficulty.

In the fifth, though, Otonari plunked catcher Motohiro Shima, who went to second on a sacrifice. Takasu pulled an Otanari pitch into the foul pole and it was 2-0. 

Eagles rightfielder Fumitoshi Takano, who was put in place of the injured Koichi Isobe, tripled high off the rightfield wall to open the inning, but leftfielder Shotaro Ide made a nifty sliding catch of pinch hitter Teppei Tsuchiya's dying quail in shallow left and, following a hit batsman, Shima flew out to right. Rightfielder Takeshi Tsuji uncorked a strike to the plate and Takano was called out to conclude the inning. 

Softbank centerfielder Ryuma Kidokoro homered to right on an 87mph fastball down in the zone in trhe eighthto make it 2-1, but a couple of groundouts and a strikeout otherwise kept things quiet. 

Shinichiro Koyama entered for the ninth for Rakuten and obtained a couple of quick outs, but third baseman Hiroki Kokubo singled to right and pinch hitter Brian Buchanan walked. But Ide popped up to make it a memory. 

The Eagles need only one more victory from the birds of prey to win a season series against another Pacific League club for the first time. They are now in sole possession of fifth. 

Softbank has lost its last five series for the first time in seven years.

For Rakuten, leftfielder Rick Short was 1-3 with a walk and is at .332. First baseman Jose Fernandez was 1-4 with two strikeouts and is at .236.