The Orix BlueWave routed Nippon Ham 10-0 on Wednesday, but the Fighters loss did not affect the Daiei Hawks magic number for clinching the Pacific League pennant, leaving the league leaders still needing five wins to win the championship.
| Central League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Yomiuri | 78 | 55 | 0 | .586 | - |
| Chunichi | 67 | 60 | 0 | .528 | 8.0 |
| Yokohama | 63 | 65 | 1 | .492 | 12.5 |
| Yakult | 59 | 63 | 1 | .484 | 13.5 |
| Hiroshima | 60 | 67 | 1 | .472 | 15.0 |
| Hanshin | 56 | 73 | 1 | .434 | 20.0 |
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Daiei | 69 | 54 | 2 | .561 | - |
| Nippon Ham | 66 | 61 | 1 | .520 | 5.0 |
| Seibu | 61 | 58 | 5 | .513 | 6.0 |
| Orix | 57 | 62 | 4 | .479 | 10.0 |
| Lotte | 55 | 61 | 6 | .474 | 10.5 |
| Kintetsu | 57 | 69 | 2 | .452 | 13.5 |
Even with the second-place Fighters losing another half-game to the Hawks to sit five games back in the PL standings, Daiei would still need five wins in their last 10 games to defeat the third-place Seibu Lions.
Seibu, idle on Wednesday night, has 11 games remaining and still holds onto the mathematical chance of winning the pennant if the Hawks can not meet the current magic number of five.
At the Tokyo Dome, Orix starter Terry Burrows allowed only a pair of hits over seven innings and Yuji Goshima went 3-for-5 with a solo homer and a pair of RBIs as the BlueWave romped over Nippon Ham.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Swallows 6, Giants 3
Yakult erupted for five runs on five hits in the first inning and Tomohito Ito (8-6) won his fifth straight as the Swallows downed Yomiuri at Jingu Stadium.
Akinori Iwamura drove in a pair of runs to cap the outburst to give Yakult its 14th win over the CL champions this season.
Dragons 8, Tigers 2
Chunichi pounded out 18 hits -- 12 coming from the first four batters in the line-up -- and rolled over Hanshin at the Nagoya Dome.
Chunichi southpaw Shigeki Noguchi (9-9) went the distance on 163 pitches, only giving up a two-run homer to Katsumi Hirosawa in the eighth inning.
Carp 4, BayStars 1
Luis Lopez looped a single into left field with the bases loaded in the sixth inning for two runs as Hiroshima rallied past Yokohama at Hiroshima Stadium.
Treatment for Gomez
Chunichi Dragons slugger Leo Gomez was to leave for the United States on Wednesday to receive treatment for lower-back pain, the Central League club said Tuesday.
According to Chunichi officials, Gomez has been playing despite the trouble, but with the CL pennant already won by the Yomiuri Giants, the Dragons decided to allow Gomez to sit out the remaining fixtures and return to the U.S. for treatment.
In other news, the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Pacific League said they notified left-handed pitcher Eric Knott of his release Tuesday.
The 25-year-old minor leaguer from the Arizona Diamondbacks organization was acquired in June, but has appeared in only five games with a 1-1 record and 11.02 earned run average.
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