The Seibu Lions went up 4-1 in the third inning, but the Orix Buffaloes slowly bled their opponent's pitching over the next five innings for six runs to snake a 7-5 victory at Seibu Dome. That eroded the home team's record to .500 and it pushed them further into fourth. 

Hidetaka Kawagoe started for the herd and went 3.1 innings of four run, ten hit ball and wasn't involved in the final outcome, so reliever Kazuya Motoyanagi was bestowed with his second win with two shutout innings. 

Akira Miyakoshi started for the Lions and went 3.2 innings of two run, nine hit ball in a no decision. 

Seibu put two on with two outs in the first, but it was rebuffed on a comebacker to Kawagoe. 

The Buffaloes then put a pair on with nobody out in the third, only to see that fall apart on a groundout, a strikeout and a popup. 

However, in the third, Orix leftfielder Arihito Muramatsu singled to center with one out and third baseman Greg LaRocca and DH Tuffy Rhodes each singled to right to load the bases. Rightfielder Chad Allen flied out to right and Muramatsu tagged up and crossed for a 1-0 lead. 

That was immediately overturned in the bottom half, as second baseman Yasuyuki Kataoka singled to center and shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima singled to left. First baseman Alex Cabrera powdered a shot into the rightfield seats for a three run homer. DH Kazuhiro Wada doubled to center and went to third on a groundout. Rightfielder Takahiko Sato beat out a ground ball toward third and Wada hurried across for a 4-1 edge. 

The Buffs then began to chip away. In the fourth, shortstop Keiji Obiki singled to center and moved to second on a groundout. Centerfielder Keiichi Hirano singled to left and Obiki made tracks to the plate to slice it to 4-2. 

In the fifth, Rhodes walked and Allen singled to right, Rhodes landing at third. First baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa flied out to right and Rhodes tagged up and toed the dish to reduce it to 4-3. 

Orix catcher Takeshi Hidaka singled to right with one out in the sixth off of Chikara Onodera  and moved to second on a sacrifice. Muramatsu crashed a shot against the rightfield wall for an RBI triple. Onodera unleashed a wild pitch and Muramatsu raced in to prowl in front 5-4.. 

But in the last of the sixth, Seibu evened it when catcher Toru Hosokawa doubled to left and, one out later, centerfielder Kazuki Fukuchi walked. Kataoka singled to left and Hosokawa scored to make it 5-5. Kataoka then got himself picked off and Nakajima grounded out to put the inning to rest. 

However, Rhodes would unequalize it leading off the seventh, as he detonated a slider on the outer half of the plate over the leftfield fence. 

They would then exploit an error in the eighth, as Hirano grounded to Nakajima, who threw it away, and Hirano edned up on second. Hirano went to third on a groundout. LaRocca singled to right and Hirano eased in to improve it to 7-5. 

The Lions would put a man on with one out in the bottom portion, but a double play ball was their last gasp, Daisuke Kato retiring the side 1-2-3 in the ninth to make it official. 

Rhodes has eight homers and 12 RBIs in his last nine games. Comeback Player of the Year. 

For Seibu, Cabrera was 1-4 with three strikeouts and is at .320. 

For Orix, LaRocca was 2-5 and is at .295. Rhodes was 2-4 with a walk and two strikeouts and is at .313. Allen was 3-3 with a sac fly and is at .292.

Chiba Lotte Marines righthander Hiroyuki Kobayashi, aided by a 22mph wind blowing in from centerfield, continues to prosper in August, as he went the distance for a four hit shutout against Nippon Ham at Chiba Marine Stadium for his tenth win of the year and 12th consecutive triumph in this month dating back to 2003.  He credited the breeze with deepening the break on his slider and forkball and he has now realized double figures in shiroboshi for three consecutive campaigns. 

Brian Sweeney started for the Fighters and went 6.2 innings of two run, six hit twirling while striking out four and walking five in his sixth defeat. 

A one out single and a walk had Nippon Ham bugging Kobayashi a bit in the first, but he fooled DH Fernando Seguignol into grounding into a double play. After that, he put away 18 of the next 19 to get into the eighth. 

Sweeney walked a man in each of the first three innings but no hits. In the fourth, though, leftfielder Benny Agbayani reached on a two out infield hit and DH Shoitsu Omatsu walked. But Catcher Tomoya Satozaki flied out to right and that was that. 

The Marines then put two on with one out, but a double play ball caved that in. 

An error and a one out walk had Sweeney in another pickle in the sixth, but a flyout and a popup ash canned it. 

However, in the seventh, Lotte centerfielder Daisuke Hayakawa tripled off the rightfield wall and first baseman Kazuya Fukuura doubled down the leftfield line for a 1-0 lead. Rightfielder Saburo Omura singled to right and Fukuura skated in to make it 2-0. Second baseman Jose Ortiz singled to center, but Agbayani struckout and it was finis on the night for the Marines offense. 

Nippon Ham endeavored to return fire in the eighth, as third baseman Eiichi Koyano singled to left with one out and First baseman Mitch Jones hit a slow ground ball toward third and third baseman Toshiaki Imae barehanded it and fired to first, but late. Leftfielder Takahito Kudoh grounded into a 4-6 force. Naoto Inada pinch hit for shortstop Makoto Kaneko and struckout to put the kabosh on it. 

They would keep the pressure on in the ninth, when backup rightfielder Toshimasa Konta doubled into the leftfield corner with two outs and Seguignol walked. Catcher Shinji Takahashi, though, popped up to his opposite number to make it a memory. It was the 11th time that the Fighters have been whitewashed in 2007. 

Fukuura's double was the 300th of his career, becoming the 46th man to that mark, However, he did it second fastest in history. 

For Nippon Ham, Seguignol was 0-3 with a walk and two strikoeuts and is at .250. Jones was 1-3 and is at .182. 

For Lotte, Agbayani was 1-2 with two walks and is at .294. Ortiz was 1-4 and is at .333. 

A two run homer in the fifth by Rakuten first baseman Jose Fernandez dissolved a 5-5 deadlock and sent the Rakuten Golden Eagles to a 7-5 victory over Softbank at Miyagi Prefectural Stadium. Rakuten starter Masahiro  Tanaka went six innings of five run, four earned, ball on eight hits and ten strikeouts in luckily earning his ninth win while Hawks starter Rick Guttormson went just 3.2 innings of four run, two earned, ball on seven hits in an equally fortunate no decision. 

Softbank centerfielder Hitoshi Tamura singled to center with two outs in the first and DH Nobuhiko Matsunaka plastered a 92mph fastball into the rightfield bleachers for a 2-0 lead. 

They built on that in the third, as leftfielder Naoyuki Omura singled to left and shortstop Munenori Kawasaki singled to right. Tamura ripped a shot off the glove of third baseman Daisuke Kusano for an RBI single that allowed Omura to negotiate his way home and make it 3-0. 

It became 5-0 in the fourth, as rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara doubled off the rightfield wall and first baseman Brian Buchanan thundered a curve ball into the leftfield seats. 

However, Rakuten then dented Guttormson in their turn when leftfielder Rick Short doubled down the leftfield line with two outs and Fernandez pulled a ball through the left side for an RBI single. Kusano singled to right. Catcher Motohiro Shima singled to center and Fernandez completed the circuit while Tamura's peg to the plate flew wide of the mark and Kusano crossed. Shortstop Naoto Watanabe rolled one into the hole between first and second. Second baseman Yuichi Honda dove and snared it, but the throw to first was tardy and Shima was entered on the big board to tighten it up to 5-4. 

Softbank put two more on in the fifth, but Tanaka struck the next two men out.

In the bottom stanza, centerfielder Teppei Tsuchiya doubled into the rightfield corner and, one out later, rightfielder Kenshin Kawaguchi doubled to rightcenter and it was tied at five. Following another out, Fernandez got an 0-1 87mph fastball up in the zone and swatted it into the leftcenterfield stands to put the Eagles up 7-5. 

Buchanan doubled to the wall in right to leadoff the sixth, but two flyouts and a strikeout confined Buchanan to the remainder bin and the Rakuten bullpen then assembled for two perfect innings. 

Honda singled to right off of Shinichiro Koyama to kick off the bottom of the ninth, making each succeeding batter the tying run. But a flyout, a strikeout and a groundout buried the opportunity.

Tanaka is 5-0 against the Hawks this season, but that means he has won just four against the other four PL clubs. He is only the fifth rookie fresh out of high school to have two ten strikeouts or more outings in his initial season. By the way, that ties hall of famer Keishi Suzuki. Daisuke Matsuzaka did it four times in his first pro year while former Hanshin ace Yutaka Enatsu holds the record with seven. Tanaka is leading all of NPB in strikeout rate with a 9.2 per nine innings. 

On his outing Friday, Eagles manager Katsuya Nomura commented, "God is smiling down on him. He's a weird kid. No matter how much he gets hit we always get those runs back." 

For Rakuten, Fernandez was 2-4 and is at .237. Short was 2-4 and is at .327. 

For Softbank, Buchanan was 2-4 and is at .280. 

Rakuten Fullcast, a temp agency that bought the naming rights to the Eagles ballpark, was ordered to stop doing business for a month by the Ministry of Health and Labor. The public scandal may force Rakuten to vacate its contract with Fullcast. Fullcast also has 100 employees who work concessions. Eagles officials plan to meet with Miyagi Prefecture officials to discuss the matter since the prefecture operates Rakuten's homeground.