◆ Pacific League Rakuten 3x-2 Softbank (Rakuten Mobile Park)
Softbank suffered their first walk-off loss of the season. With 9 wins, 13 losses and 2 draws in March and April, they were determined to have a losing record for the first time since 2013 with two games remaining. Manager Hiroki Kokubo said, "I feel like we were defeated by Muneta. He's a big rookie," taking his hat off to the opposing first-round draft pick.
In the 11th inning, with no outs, he was put in a tough situation when he connected with a left fielder doble and was also prevented from tying the game by a series of good plays defense. In the 7th inning, with one run scored, he advanced on Ogata's infield hit would-be ground ball and made a difficult bounce handle. With two outs and a runner on third, he got rid of Kawase's similar pitch, "I think there were some instructions from the bench, but also positioning. He was in front of me, and I had to be there to get the out. The other team was better than me," he admitted.
The relief pitchers kept the score at runs from the sixth to the tenth innings. The struggling Yamakawa had his first multi-hit in 12 games and reached base four times with two Walk. The manager expressed his expectations, saying, "We weren't being forceful and we were able to get Walk. If we continue to play like we did today, I think we'll improve." Shuto missed three consecutive games due to being hit by Hit by Pitch on the 23rd, and Imamiya missed two consecutive games due to poor condition, but he looked ahead to the six-game home series starting on the 29th, saying, "Yukyou (Shuto) and Kenta (Imamiya) may be able to return. Let's start afresh at home."
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