◆ Pacific League: Lotte 5-3 Rakuten Eagles (29th, ZOZO Marine Stadium)

Rakuten Eagles suffered a come-from-behind loss. This marks their fourth consecutive defeat, dropping them to fourth place.

Aiming to end their losing streak, Rakuten Eagles started Kenta Maeda on the mound. In the first inning, he gave up a single to Fujiwara, the leadoff hit, and runs on sacrifice fly to left field by Terachi with one out and a runner on third. They conceded the first run of the game.

His team took the lead in the third inning, but in the fourth, Polanco scored a game-tying solo home run. He was caught up by a single shot that struck the right field pole. Then, with one out, Inoue hit a single to left field, giving the team the lead. In the fifth inning, trailing by one run, he was pulled after putting runners on first and third with no outs. The second batter Shibata allowed additional runs with a push-out Walk and a right-hand sacrifice fly. Ken Maeda runs 7 hit 5 midway through the 5th inning. It became a painful pitch.

Manager Miki commented on veteran pitch, saying, "The team was on a losing streak, so I think I made them carry too much burden. I think it was a mound that made them understand the importance of today's game, but watching them pitch and preparing for the game is fantastic just to watch. I think he himself felt that he couldn't throw at key moments, or rather, the ball stayed in the zone. It is a hope and request to firmly prepare for the next phase," he said.

While the lineup was on a losing streak and experimenting, Taira, who was hitting his first starting line-up of the season, hit his first solo home run in the pro. Although the counterattack did not reach them, it brought a glimmer of hope. "Both those who are playing and those who haven't, the players currently registered with the first team, and the players are doing their best to secure a win," he said. "We lost today, but Taira hit home run, and defense infield also had some good plays. I think there are reasons for losing, and I think I have that too, but I believe there are definitely good points among them. Especially for the young players, I want them to build confidence and experience," he said, wishing for their growth.

They're on a four-game losing streak and are two games behind. There's no game on the 30th as it's a travel day. They'll start fresh with the game against Softbank Hawks on May 1st. "We'll make sure to get back on track in May, and there are various opinions on things like batting order, so we want to do our best," he said, looking ahead.