◆ Pacific League: Lotte 8-5 Rakuten Eagles (19th, ZOZO Marine Stadium)

Rakuten Eagles suffered a come-from-behind loss to Lotte. It was manager Masato Yoshii's first game since taking over, and he was lose. Despite the loss, Manager Yoshii said, "Everyone did their best. We'll switch gears and work hard to come up with a solid strategy so that we can win tomorrow."

The game started with action. In the first inning, with two outs and a runner on first, McCusker hit a two-run homer to left field, his fourth of the season, to give his team the lead. In the third inning, with a one-run lead and two outs and runners on second and third, Watanabe hit a two-doble to left-center field. The offense was functioning well and they added to their lead.

However, starting pitcher Shoji was pulled after 4 runs in the 5th inning. In the sixth inning, Sho Suzuki, the second pitcher, created a bases loaded crisis with two outs, so Shibata switched to the team. However, Aito hit a bases loaded arch. Despite his desperate successive pitching, he was unable to mark the new commander's first battle with a win. Regarding the decision to pitch back-to-back, he explained, "That was a matter of battle, so I thought right-handed pitcher would be better." Although the result was disappointing, the coach didn't blame the nine, saying, "The result wasn't great, but I think everyone did their best."