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

Second-place Seibu Lions lost consecutive games to third-place Nippon-Ham, missing out on advancing to the Climax Series Final Stage. Despite winning the first game with a walk-off victory, they suffered a painful series of losses at their home stadium, and their season came to an end.

outfielder Seiya Watanabe who had a disappointing performance in the three CS games with only 2 At Bat 12 at hit for a batting average of .167, 4 struck out, and 2 double play plays, took responsibility, saying, "I wasn't in top form, and yet I still got opportunities to play, so, how should I put it? I feel like we lost because of me, and that's how I really felt about those three games."

In the first game on the 10th, he was used as the fifth batter and had 4 At Bat 0 hit 2 struck out. He was unable to deliver results, such as grounding into a second base double play during a scoring opportunity in the 8th inning. 'When you end the first game in such a disappointing way under this kind of pressure, you tend to let it drag you down. That is also an experience, and after feeling this much regret, a strong desire was born to fight on this stage again starting tomorrow and into next season. I want to make sure this doesn't go to waste,' he said. He intends to use the lessons learned from this frustration as fuel for next season.