◆ Pacific League Softbank Hawks 6-4 Nippon-Ham (28th, Mizuho PayPay Stadium)

Nippon-Ham failed to hold onto their early lead for the second consecutive game, resulting in their first consecutive losses to start the season since 2022 when they suffered three straight losses at PayPay Dome.

In the second inning, Nomura, who missed out on starting line-up on opening day, hit a solo home run over left field off Softbank Hawks starter Haru Matsumoto 's slider to give his team the lead. Then, in the fourth inning, Castro, the new foreign starting line-up also making his first start, hit his first home run since coming to Japan, a solo home run over left field, extending the lead to two runs.

Starting pitcher Tatsu had closer the opposing team scoreless through three innings, closer only one hit and no runs until the fourth inning, but he ran into trouble in the fifth. After hit and two bases loaded loaded the bases with two Hit by Pitch, Kondo hit a doble sweep to right-center field, giving the opposing team the lead. Then, Yanagimachi, Yanagida, and Yamakawa hit four consecutive singles, resulting in Tatsu giving up five runs and being knocked out of the game.

In the 8th inning, they attacked Softbank Hawks 's third pitcher, bases loaded, and created a bases-loaded opportunity with one out, but Castro and pinch-hitter Shimizu Yu made outs and they failed to score. In the bottom of the inning, fifth pitcher Fukutani gave up a solo home run to Yamakawa to left-center field, his second in as many games. Trailing by four runs in the 9th inning, Reyes and Gunji hit consecutive RBI singles to score two runs, but it wasn't enough.