◆ Pacific League Orix Buffaloes 8-3 Softbank Hawks (20th, Kyocera Dome)

Softbank Hawks 's starting pitcher, Haruto Fujiwara, in his second professional game, was knocked out in the third inning after giving up five runs. While fastball reached a maximum of 155 km/h, he still has room for improvement in the accuracy of breaking ball. Following his debut game on the 13th, he suffered his second consecutive loss. The 20-year-old right-hander, who is expected to become a future ace, has learned the harsh realities of professional baseball.

After the game, manager Kokubo said, "Rather than saying it was a baptism of fire in professional baseball, he has good fastball speed, but his breaking ball balls are inconsistent. We know that and are using them anyway. When batters are looking for his pitches, even ground balls get through the gaps between fielder. The precision of his strikeout pitches is a challenge. There's no end to the issues I could list. But he's grown this much in his third year in the minor league system and earned this opportunity himself. He can throw strong balls. He's found areas to improve on for the next game," expressing his hope that the player would use this disappointment as motivation.