2026 PERSOL Climax Series Pacific League First Stage Game 3: Seibu Lions 1-4 Nippon-Ham (12th, Belluna Dome)

Nippon-Ham starting pitcher Hiromi Ito was struck by two accidents. In the third inning with no outs, he handled a pitcher's grounder from Tonosaki that had an irregular spin, and while attempting to tag the hitter-runner himself, he injured his lower back and went back to the bench.

In the fifth inning with no outs and runners on first and second base, Hirasawa's line drive hit Ito directly near his left foot spike. The ball rolled in front of catcher, and Shindo throw to first base for a close out. Ito jumped up and appeared to be in pain. He then went to the dugout. About five minutes later, he returned to mound to check on himself and continued pitching. He held the opponent to just one run on sacrifice fly by Genda, closer left the game after 5 innings, 68 pitches, 3 hit and 1 runs.

After the game, he revealed the behind-the-scenes details, saying, 'There's no tomorrow, so it was all about spirit. (My hand) was numb after getting hit by the ball in the fifth inning, but in that situation, I couldn't imagine handing the ball over there. I told them myself that I wanted to keep going.'

Regarding the future, he said, "I'll see how things look tomorrow morning. But I don't think it's that serious. I feel like if I go to the hospital, I've lost. It hurts, but personally, I think I'll be fine."