◆Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026: The Giants 8-2 Lotte (May 5th, Tokyo Dome)

Lotte's Neftalí Soto infielder in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, putting them on the verge of a shutout loss. It was his 200th career home run in NPB history, making him the 116th player in history to do so, and he managed to strike back.

Starting pitcher Koshichiro Hiroike pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up 4 hit and 4 runs, failing to set up a good game.

Manager Saburo commented on the opposing starter Inoue, who gave up his first professional complete game, saying, "I guess I took off the field early on. When the lineup is good, you can swing aggressively from the start, but today, it felt like I was taking the lead or getting inside. Well, I guess the other person was pitcher on top. Well, there's still a long way to go in that area," he pointed out. He cited the lineup's inability to create early opportunities as one of the reasons for the loss.