Kintetsu Buffaloes slugger Tuffy Rhodes failed to connect for a roundtripper in four at-bats and his homer total remained unchanged at 55 as the Pacific League champion lost to the Orix BlueWave 7-1 at Green Stadium Kobe on Friday in the final PL contest of the year.
Central League WonLostTiedPct.GB Yakult 74 55 6 .574 - Yomiuri 75 63 2 .543 3.5 Hiroshima 65 63 7 .508 8.5 Yokohama 66 65 4 .504 9.0 Chunichi 60 73 4 .451 16.0 Hanshin 57 78 3 .422 20.0 Pacific League WonLostTiedPct.GB Kintetsu 78 60 2 .565 - Daiei 76 63 1 .547 2.5 Seibu 73 67 0 .521 6.0 Orix 70 66 4 .515 7.0 Lotte 64 74 2 .464 14.0 Nippon Ham 53 84 3 .387 24.5
Rhodes, who hit his league-leading 55th homer Sept. 24 to tie Sadaharu Oh's all-time Japanese home run record set in 1964, grounded out to shortstop in his first at-bat, and hit into a fly ball in his next three.