◆SMBC Japan Series 2025 Game 1 Softbank 1-2 Hanshin Tigers (25th, Mizuho PayPay Dome)

With two outs and a runner on second in the first inning, Kondo hit a timely single to center field. Returning from a left flank injury, their main batter hit a single in his first at-bat in 29 days to score the first run, but the team continued to score zero runs from then on, and starter Arihara was caught in the sixth inning. Leadoff batter Chikamoto's single to center field and stolen base on third, Sato Teru hit a game-winning doble. From the seventh inning onwards, the team used a winning combination of pitching with Fujii, Matsumoto Yutaka, and Sugiyama to prevent any additional runs, but the offense was silent. The batting lineup is struggling in the final six games of the CS, having scored three runs or less in all six games.

Below is a Q&A with manager Hiroki Kokubo after the match.

-A close match with a low score

"That's right. They took advantage of their one chance and showed good tenacity in the end. They got to the point where only Downs was left on the bench."

- Sato Teru is hitter with over 100 RBI.

"But that one chance he took was a good one. That's how Hanshin Tigers has been fighting this year. Then there was Oikawa and Ishii. They didn't bring in Iwasaki, though, and just went with the same batting average. We were behind as well, but we put in three players. We went in without thinking about the future."

- Kondo's return to form

"It's swingable now. Well, tomorrow."

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・ [Japan Series] Softbank starts with a loss after a comeback defeat, failing to win their eighth straight game against Hanshin Tigers in Fukuoka
・ [Japan Series] Hanshin Tigers come from behind to win with Shota Morishita and Teruaki Sato! If win the first game on the road, their chances of victory are 72%
・ [Japan Series] Softbank 's Kohei Arihara leaves the game after giving up a one-point lead, giving up six hit two runs in the sixth inning.