◆ Pacific League 6-3 Orix Buffaloes (15th, ZOZO Marine Stadium)

Orix Buffaloes lost to Lotte, their fourth loss in their last five games. In the seventh inning, with the score tied, third pitcher Yamazaki gave up consecutive hits to Takabe and Ogawa with two outs, and then Nishikawa hit a crucial game-winning three-run homer to left field. Manager Kishida bit his lip, saying, "fielder did a great job tying the game, but...we were beaten. We get hit sometimes, closer...well, I wanted them to hold them off."

Starting pitcher Takashima showed resilience, giving up 5 hit 3 runs in 5 innings, but he was unable to secure his fourth win, which would tie him with Espinoza for the most wins on the team. The manager said, "I don't think he was that bad, but there were more pitches that were flying up than usual from the start. The power of his pitches wasn't bad, but I think it would be better if he could have closer the batters a bit more in crucial situations, but we'll work on that next time," listing both areas for improvement and positive takeaways.

Second-place Seibu Lions has closed the gap to just 0.5 games, putting the team in danger of losing first place. Manager Kishida remained positive, saying, "This is a time for patience. We all need to be patient and somehow manage to win these kinds of games."