◆パ・リーグ　オリックス４―１２日本ハム（１５日・京セラドーム大阪）

Nippon-Ham, with both their pitching and hitting clicking, secured a decisive victory against Orix Buffaloes, bringing their win-loss record back to 12 games above .500.

With the score tied at zero heading into the fifth inning, leadoff hitter Kamikawabata reached second base infield hit. Arizono’s Walk and Iihata’s sacrifice bunt then set up a scoring opportunity with one out and runners on second and third. At this point, No. 1 batter Yuki Kiyomiya hit a single to center field sacrifice fly to give his team the lead.Mizuno followed with an RBI single that dropped along the left-field line doble, extending the lead to two runs.

In the sixth inning, they attacked the second pitcher, Kawase, scoring three runs with four hit, including Nomura's 14th home sweep over left field, and a safety squeeze. In the eighth inning, they added six more runs with Arizono's bases-clearing RBI double to left-center doble and Mizuno's 10th home run over right field, extending their lead and putting their score in double digits for the first time since the game Seibu Lions on July 23rd (Belluna Dome). They added another run in the ninth inning, bringing their total to 15 hit and 12 runs, showing a strong offensive performance.

Starting pitcher Takashi Kato pitched flawlessly through five innings, allowing only three scattered hit. He gave up two runs in the sixth inning before being taken out of the game, but his record against Orix Buffaloes this season is now four wins in four starts, giving him a career-high 11th win and putting him at the top of the league standings.