◆パ・リーグ　オリックス０―３日本ハム（９日・京セラドーム大阪）

Nippon-Ham defeated Orix Buffaloes 3-0, ending their seven-game losing streak at Kyocera Dome. For the first time this season, they fielded the same starting line-up for three consecutive games, and recorded double-digit hit for the third game in a row. Manager Shinjo indicated he would continue with this lineup tomorrow as well.

The manager had said the day before the start of spring training on January 31st, "We'll have competition for a little over a month (from the start of the season). After that, we'll solidify the lineup." After the game, when asked about the lineup becoming more fixed, he smiled and made the reporters laugh, saying, "I'm not too attached to it. I'm sticking to a fixed batting order or something. Today I thought about changing (catcher) to Shindo or Shimizu (Yu), but I thought Soya might not like left-handed batters as much. So I had Tamiya go in. What do you think, if we stick with this lineup until the end of the season?"

Regarding future player selections, he said, "It's more about the performance than the opposing pitcher. We look at the performance and the data, of course." He also expressed his expectations for Gunji, who has been batting fourth since the start of the season, saying, "Now we're just waiting for Gunji. He seems to lack a bit of bat speed at impact. When he's in good form, he takes his time to time his swing and then snaps the ball right before the point of contact, but that's not happening as much right now." He is eagerly awaiting the full recovery of number 3 player, who has a batting average of .252 and two Home Run so far.