◆ Pacific League Rakuten Eagles Softbank Hawks (August 2nd, Rakuten Eagles Mobile)

Softbank Hawks brought in Yuki Matsumoto as their second pitcher in the eighth inning with the score tied. With two outs and runners on second and third base, he gave up a two-run doble to Murabayashi on a low outside fork that went down the right field line. The right-hander, who had been playing for the Japanese national team in the World Baseball Classic, suffered his first loss in his fourth appearance of the season, ending the team's opening-day winning streak at five games.

Matsumoto Yu has now runs in two consecutive games, following his performance against the same opponent on March 31st. Last year, he appeared in 51 games, compiling a 5-2 record with a 1.07 ERA and winning the Best reliever pitcher Award, but he never gave runs in two consecutive games. After the game, the right-hander looked ahead, saying, "I'm not in my best condition, but I think there was something more I could have done. I'll reflect on that properly and try to closer next time." When asked about his output, he said, "I think there's definitely a problem with my output."

Manager Kokubo praised Murabayashi for hitting a difficult pitch, saying, "He threw three consecutive fork on the last pitch (after full count), and he saw it well and hit it in an amazing spot." He added, "Even if he walked him, he knew that Daichi Suzuki would be coming up next, so he went for the challenge (with Murabayashi) when he knew it was the right time. But it's difficult to pitch when the score is tied. He was in a position where he had to go in. The pitch itself wasn't that bad."