◆Pacific League: Rakuten Eagles vs. Orix Buffaloes (3rd, Rakuten Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi)

Rakuten Eagles pitcher Wataru Karashima, who is retiring at the end of this season, took the mound for his final appearance.

Karashima joined the team as the 6th draft pick in 2008 from Fukuoka Iizuka High School and has spent his entire 18-year career with the Rakuten Eagles. He has continued to support the team primarily as a starter with a pitch style that makes full use of varying speeds. He recorded his first professional win in 2012. In 2013, he experienced the club's first league title and Japan Series championship. In 2019, he achieved a career-high 9 wins. He was also the last remaining homegrown member of the club's championship-winning team.

Before taking the mound, he held a retirement press conference. Expressing his determination for his final appearance as an active player, he said, 'I have received many words of gratitude from those around me, so I hope to make this an appearance that conveys my own feelings of gratitude as a way of giving back to them.'

A retirement ceremony is scheduled to be held after the match.

Wataru Karashima. Born October 18, 1990, in Fukuoka Prefecture. 35 years old. As the ace of Iizuka High School in the summer of his third year, he led the school to its first-ever Koshien appearance. He joined the Rakuten Eagles as the 6th draft pick in 2008. He made his professional debut in 2009 as a rookie. In 2019, he recorded a career-high 9 wins. He has 211 total appearances. 173 cm, 72 kg. Left-handed pitcher and hitter.