Hard luck continued for the Orix Buffaloes despite a change in managers as they lost 2-1 to the Yomiuri Giants for their fourth straight defeat on Tuesday.

Giants captain Hayato Sakamoto’s solo shot in the sixth inning, his fourth round-tripper of the season, off Orix starter Takahiro Matsuba (3-5) decided the game. Ryoji Aikawa’s RBI triple in the third had opened the scoring for Yomiuri.

The Buffaloes pulled within one with Takahiro Okada’s two-out home run in the ninth, but closer Hirokazu Sawamura held on to deny a first win for Orix interim skipper Junichi Fukura.

Orix, last in the Pacific League and suffering its sixth four-game losing streak of the year, announced before the game that Fukura was replacing Hiroshi Moriwaki, who decided to step down.

“We tried to get back in the game so I’m happy about that,” said Fukura, promoted to manager from head coach.

Kazuto Taguchi (2-2) picked up his first win since April by scattering three hits and three walks in five shutout innings. He also struck out five.

“Taguchi wasn’t at his best in terms of accuracy but he still didn’t give up a run in five innings,” Giants skipper Tatsunori Hara said. “He had to fight through April but I think the experience is paying off now.”

Marines 6, Tigers 3

At Koshien Stadium, Katsuya Kakunaka’s two-out, full-count grand slam off Hanshin closer Oh Seung-hwan (1-1) in the top of the ninth gave Chiba Lotte its fifth win in six games.

BayStars 6, Hawks 5

At Yokohama Stadium, Sho Aranami’s game-winning RBI triple capped a three-run eighth for Yokohama against Fukuoka Softbank’s Edison Barrios (0-1), who took his first loss of the year.

Swallows 4, Eagles 3

At Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium, Tokyo Yakult’s Kazuhiro Hatakeyama homered twice against Tohoku Rakuten, a two-run homer off Takahiro Shiomi (2-3) in the second and a solo shot in the sixth.

He leads the Central League with 13 homers this season.

Fighters 7, Carp 4

At Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium, Hiroshima relievers Shota Nakazaki (0-4) and Takaya Toda folded in the ninth, giving up five runs on four hits and three walks to Hokkaido Nippon Ham, which won its third in a row to move a season-high 10 games over. 500.

Dragons 2, Lions 0

At Nagoya Dome, Chunichi’s Shunta Wakamatsu (1-0) recorded his first career win by holding Seibu to three hits in six shutout innings, a sac fly by Atsushi Fujii in the sixth breaking the deadlock.