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.
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.