Chiba Lotte Marines lefthander Soichi Fujita couldn't supress an Orix Buffaloes rally in the seventh and that would be the story of the ballgame, as the herd went on to stampede for three huge runs to lightfinger a 7-3 victory and thin that thread by which Lotte's playoff hopes hang. Hidetaka Kawagoe started for Orix and wasn't very good, five innings, three run, eight hits, 108 pitches, but he was credited with the win to polish his record to 8-7.

Hiroyuki Kobayashi started for Lotte and wasn't up to snuff, either, as he was ultimately charged with five runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings to stumble to 9-5. 

Kawagoe initially appearaed to be not long for the battle, as Lotte shortstop Hisao Heiuchi grounded one up the middle. Shortstop Masahiro Abe made a diving stop of it, but had to put it in his pocket as Heiuchi was too fast to even contemplate attempting to throw him out. Second baseman Koichi Hori singled to center. First baseman Kazuya Fukuura singled to center and drove Heiuchi in. The runners moved up on a groundout. Rightfielder Val Pascucci got his obligatory walk out of the way early to load the bases. DH Shoitxu Omatsu walked to force a run in for a 2-0 lead. Third baseman Toshiaki Imae popped to short, though, and catcher Tasuku Hashimoto hurt himself while striking out and had to be removed from the game. Tomoya Satozaki is still hurting form a collision at home plate in late August, so third string backstop Toshiya Toshiya got ignorant in this one. 

However, that was cut in half in the Buffaloes turn when leftfielder Daisuke Hayakawa got a 91mph fastball on the inner half and parked it in the rightfield stands to make it 2-1. 

Lotte had two on and one out in the second, but that was sabotaged by a double play ball. Orix had a man on second with one out and left him to his own devices, too. 

Lotte packed the sacks again in the third, but another twin killing binned the opportunity. 

Orix then came up hacking. In the last of the inning. Centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu doubled to left and Kobayashi plunked Hayakawa. Rightfielder Karim Garcia singled to right and it was tied up, Hayakawa motoring to third on the play. DH Kazuhiro Kiyohara flew out to center and Hayakawa tagged up and scored for a 3-2 advantage. 

They padded that in the fourth when first baseman Eiji Mizuguchi doubled down the rightfield line and moved to third on a sacrifice. One out later, Abe grounded one through the shortstop-third base hole. Heiuchi made a diving stab, but he had to eat it and it was 4-2. 

Lotte tightened it back up in the fifth, as Fukuura doubled to leftcenter and, two outs later, Omatsu walked. Imae singled to center to convert Fukuura and put it at 4-3. Tsuji, though, lined out to center. Lotte would get only two more hits the rest of the night. 

Orix iced it in the seventh when catcher Takeshi Hidaka singled to right and went to second on a sacrifice. Fujita was called in from the bullpen. Muramatsu singled to center. Yoshitomo Tani, pinch hitting for Hayakawa, doubled off the leftfield fence to send Hidaka in. Garcia doubled to the wall in center for two more RBIs and a 7-3 lead. Kiyohara was intentionally walked for the first time in four years to face shortstop Mitsutaka Goto, who struckout. Kevin Beirne spulled Fujita and induced a groundout to finally snuff the fire. 

Daisuke Kato retired six of the seven men he faced over the last pair of frames to lock it up. 

For Lotte, Agbayani was 1-5 and is at .274. Pascucci was 0-2 with two walks and is at .220. 

For Orix, Garcia was 3-3 with a walk and is at .238. 

The Rakuten Golden Eagles had their talons out for Softbank starter Hayato Terahara Sunday, as they slapped him around for four runs in only one-third of an inning, his shortest ever stint while opening on the mound, and they never looked back, as they later put two more runs on the big board and took it 6-3 at Miyagi Prefectural Stadium.  The Hawks subverted themselves by committing four errors and leaving 13 runners on. 

Rui Makino started for Rakuten and did suprisingly well for a guy who was a career reliever, as he twirled six innings of two unearned run ball on four hits for his first win in a starting role in ten years and also his first shiroboshi this season. 

Centerfielder Teppei Tsuchiya got things rolling for the Eagles in the first when he singled to center and went to second on a sac bunt. Second baseman Yosuke Takasu got a hanging 3-2 breaking ball and smoked it up the leftcenter gap for an RBI triple. Third baseman Jose Fernandez singled to right for an RBI of his own. DH Rick Short singled to right. First baseman Kenshi Kawaguchi singled to left. Rightfielder Akihisa Makita singled to right and Fernandez and Short navigated their way home for a 4-0 lead. Terahara was also on his way to the showers, Akihiro Yanase now in controlling the baseball. Makita then got himself picked off of first. Catcher Akihto Fujii grounded to short and that was the inning. 

Softbank shaved that margin down in the second, as rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara singled to right with one out and third baseman Jolbert Cabrera walked. On the final pitch to Cabrera, Shibahara took off for second and Fujii's throw was wide of the second base bag and so Shibahara was able to advance to third. Second baseman Yuichi Honda grounded into a 4-6 force and Shibahara scored. Catcher Naoki Matoba grounded to Fernandez, who muffed it. Centerfielder Naoyuki Omura singled to right and Cabrera crossed to make it 4-2. But shortstop Munenori Kawasaki flew out to left to conclude the rally. They would obtain only one more hit through eight after that. 

Rakuten reloaded the bases in the third and nothing came to fruition there. But in the fifth, Fernandez walked and Short doubled up the leftcenter ally, Fernandez sprinting home as best he could to put it at 5-2. 

In the sixth, leftfielder Koichi Sekikawa singled to left and, two outs later, he stole second. Short doubled to leftcenter once more and Sekikawa cruised in to stretch it to 6-2. 

Hisashi Ogura was brought to the bump for the ninth to try to secure what would be his team's new club record 39th win.But with one out, Shibahara doubled to rightcenter and, one out later, Honda doubled to right to make it 6-3. Kazuhiko Miyaji pinch hit for Matoba and grounded out and this one was history. 

After the all star break, Softbank's big three of Nagisa Arakaki, Tsuyoshi Wada and Kazumi Saito were a combined 16-1-1. The other two spots in the rotation are a composite 4-9-1. Good thing for them that they can use a short rotation in the playoffs. 

Terahara will be demoted, probably to the minors. 

For Rakuten, Fernandez was 1-4 with a walk and two strikeouts and is at .308. Short was 4-5 and is at .318. 

For Softbank first baseman Julio Zuleta was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .283. Cabrera was 0-3 with a walk and is at .268. 

Catcher Toru Hosokawa's second career grand slam was the decisive blow in this one, as the Seibu Lions held off the Nippon Ham Fighters for a day 6-2 at Seibu Dome to end the Sapporo crew's three game win skein. Lions starter Fumiya Nishiguchi racked up his sixth triumph in a row with seven innings of one run, six hit ball to go over .500 for the first time all season at 9-8.

Satoru Kanemura started for Nippon Ham and was kicked and clawed for five runs on six hits in four innings to decline to 8-6. 

Seibu snatched off a run in the first when centerfielder Shogo Akada singled to center and went to second on a sacrifice. One out later, first baseman Alex Cabrera walked. Leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada singled to left and Akada flashed across the plate for a 1-0 lead. 

Nishiguchi would then be aided by some defense in the second. Fighters rightfielder Atsunori Inaba walked and went to second on a sac bunt. One out later, catcher Shinya Tsuruoka singled to right. Inaba made the turn at third and headed home. But Kazuki Fukuchi gunned him down at the plate. They would generate only one more hit through five. 

So it stayed 1-0 until the fourth, when second baseman Yoshihito Ishii singled to center and Cabrera singled to left. One out later, DH Jeff Liefer walked and the bags were juiced. Following another out, Hosokawa stepped up and got a first pitch fastball on the inner half of the plate and socked it into the leftfield seats for a 5-0 edge. 

Seibu had two on and one out in the fifth and stranded them. 

Nishiguchi finally ran into some difficulty in the seventh, as third baseman Jose Macias singled to right and, one out later, Tsuruoka singled to center. Shortstop Makoto Kaneko flied out to center and Macias tagged up and scurried in to make it 5-1. Centerfielder Hichori Morimoto singled to right. But second baseman Kensuke Tanaka struckout and that was that. 

Nippon Ham reliever Masaru Takeda struckout the side in the bottom portion. To applaud that, Inaba homered to right with two outs in the eighth to trim it to 5-2. Macias doubled to left and that would be it for the Fighters offense, as the next four men went down in order.

Seibu restored the four run advantage in the bottom of the inning on a one out single to right from Wada and a double to left by Liefer that provided Wada enough clearance to land at home for the 6-2 result. 

The Fighters have been on the bad side of six consecutive decisions involving Nishiguchi. This is the fourth time that they had won the first game of a series with the Lions and then got beat in the second match. 

Seibu went over the one million mark in attendance, six games ahead of last year. 

In his last ten games, Hosokawa has a .394 average with four homers and 11 RBIs. 

For Nippon Ham, DH Fernando Seguignol was 1-4 and is at .280. Macias was 2-3 with a sac bunt and is at .229. 

For Seibu, Cabrera was 1-3 with a walk and two strikeouts and is at .316. Liefer was 1-3 with a walk and is at .254. 

Rakuten Manager Katsuya Nomura says that he has often been up as late as 3 a.m. mulling over how to get his team on a better footing performancewise. He joked that he might spend the off day Monday sleeping. 

Softbank Manager Sadaharu Oh was given permission by doctors to spend Sunday night at home. However, he will be back in hosptial Monday.