Taisei Takagi nailed a "sayonara" RBI double in the bottom of the ninth inning to drive home the only run of the game as the Seibu Lions edged the Orix BlueWave 1-0 in a tight pitching duel at the Seibu Dome on Tuesday.
| Central League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Chunichi | 6 | 3 | 1 | .667 | - |
| Yomiuri | 5 | 4 | 1 | .556 | 1.0 |
| Yakult | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 1.0 |
| Hanshin | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 1.5 |
| Hiroshima | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 2.5 |
| Yokohama | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 3.0 |
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Lotte | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | - |
| Seibu | 9 | 6 | 0 | .600 | 0.0 |
| Orix | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 1.5 |
| Daiei | 7 | 8 | 0 | .467 | 2.0 |
| Nippon Ham | 6 | 8 | 1 | .429 | 2.5 |
| Kintetsu | 6 | 9 | 0 | .400 | 3.0 |
With one out and a runner on second, Takagi drove a double into right field off Orix starter Hidetaka Kawagoe (0-2) as the Lions won their third straight game.
Seibu ace Daisuke Matsuzaka scattered five hits over the distance while fanning seven and did not let the BlueWave past second base in picking up his second win.
Kawagoe allowed one run on nine hits and struck out eight in a losing effort as Orix fell to its third straight loss.
Marines 12, Fighters 2
Frank Bolick drilled a three-run homer to highlight a five-run fifth as Lotte downed Nippon Ham at the Tokyo Dome.
Reliever Atsushi Yoshida (1-1) picked up the win, pitching two scoreless innings.
Lotte ace Tomohiro Kuroki left the game after being hit in the left calf by a ball off Toshihiro Noguchi's bat in the fifth inning.
Nippon Ham starter Scott Sanders, making his first appearance, allowed three runs -- one earned -- on two hits in four innings and took the loss. He struck out six batters.
Hawks 13, Buffaloes 6
Tadahito Iguchi belted two homers and Kenji Jojima had four RBIs for Daiei as the Hawks defeated Kintetsu at the Fukuoka Dome.
Leading 10-6 in the eighth, the Hawks added three runs on a two-run homer by Hiroki Kokubo and a solo blast by Jojima.
The Buffaloes are on an eight-game losing streak against Daiei.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Carp 9, BayStars 2
Luis Lopez connected for a grand slam in Hiroshima's six-run third inning as the Carp beat Yokohama at Yokohama Stadium.
Starter Yasushi Tsuruta, formerly of the Chunichi Dragons, allowed one unearned run on four hits over seven innings for his first win in two years.
Swallows 2, Tigers 0
Hanshin starter Kei Igawa (1-1) held Yakult to two runs over eight innings but his teammates failed to back him as Hanshin fell to its first shutout loss of the season.
Giants 1, Dragons 1 (12)
Yomirui tied the game in the fifth inning on Toshihisa Nishi's RBI double and both teams failed to score the rest of the way as the game ended in a tie after 12 innings according to Central League rules.
Draft modified
Japanese professional baseball officials on Monday finalized a plan to introduce free competition in acquiring amateur players with a modification to the current draft system starting in the fall.
The new system, designed to minimize the outflow of would-be stars to overseas clubs, allows each of the 12 professional baseball clubs in Japan to sign up to two amateur players, excluding high school players, in free competition with a limit on draft picks.
Lotte signs Kubenka
The Lotte Marines said Tuesday that they had acquired New York Mets southpaw Jeff Kubenka from the defending National League champions.
Kubenka, who is expected to be used out of the Marines bullpen, will be paid an estimated 30 million yen, officials of the Pacific League club announced.
Kubenka made 12 game appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1998 and 1999 and posted a 1-1 record. He is expected to arrive in Japan on Friday.
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