◆ Pacific League Seibu Lions 1-3 Lotte (20th, Saitama Prefectural Omiya Stadium)

Seibu Lions 's winning streak at home games came to an end at five. In the bottom of the ninth inning, with the score tied, an error led to Lotte's Tomosugi executing a safety squeeze to take the lead, and Seibu's attempt to retaliate in the bottom of the inning fell to failure. As Orix Buffaloes win the game that day, Seibu lost their top spot in the standings.

Sugai, who started the game, made up 6 hit through the 7th inning, mixing a straight ball in the low 140s slider, change-up and a knuckle curve, and got through the game with the fewest runs.

However, the offense failed to deliver. In the third inning, with no outs and runners on first and third base, they managed to tie the game on a wild pitch by Mori, but after that, they remained silent.

Coach Nishiguchi looked dejected, saying, "We scored one run, but we just couldn't break through their defense."

Regarding the play in the ninth inning where they allowed the opposing team to take the lead due to an error, he said, "There may have been some irregularities in a local ballpark, but we really need to be able to make sure we get outs in those situations," urging his players to improve.

The previous game held at Omiya Prefectural Stadium on April 10th was a 3-6 loss against Lotte, and they were unable to secure another win. From the 22nd, they have a three-game home series against league leaders Orix Buffaloes. The manager said, "I'm not worried at all about (losing first place). Rather than focusing on first or second place, we've lost more games than we've lost against Orix Buffaloes. We'll do our best to get revenge."