Nippon Ham leftfielder Mitch Jones tripled in a run and scored later in the inning to dispense with a 1-1 deadldock and carve out a 3-2 victory at Seibu Dome against the Lions to prevent being swept. Yu Darvish started for the Fighters and went seven innings of one run, eight hit ball and struckout seven for his ninth win. 

Chris Gissel started for Seibu and went 6.1 innings of three run, six hit ball and struckout six in regressing to 1-8. 

Nippon Ham got off on the good foot with a bang in the top of the first, as centerfielder Hichori Morimoto mortared a breaking ball into the leftfield seats for his first homer since May 5th and a 1-0 lead. Second baseman Kensuke Tanaka walked and, one out later, first baseman Fernando Seguignol doubled to right. But Gissel then retired 16 of the next 17 to cruise through six. 

The Lions put two on with two out in the third and that bogged down on a groundout. Darvish was also perfect in the fourth. 

However, in the fifth, Seibu rightfielder Takahiko Sato doubled to right and went to third on a sacrifice. Third baseman Yoshihito Ishii walked. Centerfielder Kazuki Fukuchi singled to center to exploit Sato and knot it at one all. But a popup and a groundout held it there. 

Darvish also struckout catcher Toru Hosokawa in the sixth to rebuff a two on and two out predicament. 

The Fighters bats woke back up in the seventh, as third baseman Eiichi Koyano singled to center with one out and Jones tripled to center to send Koyano in. Backup rightfielder Takahito Kudoh singled to left and Jones strode home to pull ahead 3-1. 

The Lions put two on with two out in their ups, but a strikeout intervened. 

Hisashi Takeda was given the assignment for the eighth for Nippon Ham and was touched for a leadoff single, but he struckout the side to get it to closer Michael Nakamura. 

Ishii, though, doubled to left and went to third on a groundout. One out later, shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima singled to left to nudge Ishii in and put the tying run on. But First baseman Alex Cabrera struckout for the fourth time to cadge a golden sombrero and turn the lights out. 

During his hero interview, some fans in the stands yelled for Darvish to take his clothes off, an allusion to a women's magazine spread he recently did. 

For Nippon Ham, Seguignol was 2-4 with two strikeouts and is at .252. Jones was 1-3 and is at .175. 

For Seibu, Cabrera was 0-5 with the four whiffs and is at .321.

Chiba Lotte Marines second baseman Jose Ortiz finished a triple short of the cycle while going 4-5 with five RBIs and rightfielder Saburo Omura drove in four more to trample the Rakuten Golden Eagles 12-1 at Chiba Marine Stadium. Lotte starter Naoyuki Shimizu went seven innings of one run, seven hit ball for his first win in about a month and it put the brakes on a three game loss string by his team. 

Yasuhiro Ichiba started for Rakuten and went 1.2 innings of four run, five hit ball in his first loss of the year.

The Eagles put two on and two out in the first, but a strikeout snuffed the chance out. 

Lotte then set about pummeling Ichiba, as centerfielder Daisuke Hayakawa walked with one away and went to second on a wild pitch. First baseman Kazuya Fukuura singled to center and it was 1-0. Omura doubled to leftcenter. Ortiz squirted one down the third base line and into the corner for a two run double to polish it to 3-0. 

Rakuten subsequently got on the big board in the second when leftfielder Kenshin Kawaguchi got a middle-out curve ball and lined it over the leftfield wall to make it 3-1. 

But Marines catcher Tomoya Satozaki singled to right and moved to second on a sacrifice. One out later, Hayakawa singled to left to convert Satozaki to expand their hegemony to 4-1. It also knocked Ichiba out of the box in favor of Kanehisa Arime. Fukuura walked. Omura, though flied out to right. 

The Eagles put two on with two outs in the fifth, but a strikeout disappeared the opportunity. 

In the bottom half, Satozaki singled to center and, one out later, shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka doubled to right. Following another out, Fukuura walked to pack the sacks. Omura singled to left for two runs and Ortiz singled to right for another to inflate the lead to 7-1. . 

Shimizu was flawless from the fifth through the seventh. He also had more room to work with, as Nishioka walked and was thrown out attempting to steal second. Hayakawa walked. One out later, Omura doubled off the leftfield fence and Hayakawa blazed to the plate. Ortiz got a 1-0 middle-in fastball and ratcheted it just past the leftfield foul pole for a two run homer to tear it open to 10-1. 

Naotaka Takehara pinch hit for Hayakawa in the eighth and singled to center. Koichi Hori hit for Fukuura and slashed one up the leftcenter gap for an RBI triple. Omura flew out to center and Hori tagged up and ran in to heighten it to 12-1. 

Eagles headman Katsuya Nomura indicated that Ichiba may be demoted to either a mop up role or to the minors. 

For Rakuten, first baseman Jose Fernandez was 0-4 and is at .234. 

For Lotte, Ortiz was 4-5 and is at .338. His family just arrived in Japan a couple of days ago, which has improved his comfort level. Leftfielder Benny Agbayani was 0-4 and is at .292. 

Rakuten Closer Kazuo Fukumori had successful elbow surgery to remove some loose cartilage. He is gone for the year. 

Softbank This used to be the norm in the majors decades ago but you never see it anymore: because of two recent cancelations, the Hawks may be forced to stage a doubleheader and just to make things logistically easier in terms of handling the spectators they may chargs them for only one game while allowing them to see the second for, effectively, free.