◆ Pacific League: Nippon-Ham vs. Rakuten Eagles (19th, ES CON FIELD)

Nippon-Ham came from behind to defeat Rakuten Eagles and moved up to third place, overtaking Softbank Hawks.

Trailing by one run in the second inning, Gunji, who had been struggling, hit a go-ahead two-run homer to left-center field, his third of the season and his first since April 3rd. In the same inning, they capitalized on Rakuten Eagles starter Shoji's control problems, adding two more runs with two bases-loaded Walk. In the third inning, Manami hit his 11th home run of the season, a two-run shot over left field, further extending their lead.

Starting pitcher Ito showed resilience despite having runner on base in every inning. He gave up a go-ahead home run to Tatsumi in the first inning and another run on sacrifice fly in the third, but it was from this point on that he showed the determination of an ace.

In the 4th inning, one out with runners on first and second, the fifth with no outs, bases loaded, and the sixth with one out and runners on first and second, the inning was in a three- crisis with no runs. In the sixth inning, with two outs and runners on second and third, he retired Tatsumi, who had been hit by a Home Run, swinging struck out with a 150 km/h fastball, and shouted.

From the 7th inning onward, Shimamoto, Tanaka, and Yanagawa pitched in relief to secure the win. Ito earned his 5th win of the season, tying him for the league lead.