◆ Pacific League League: Rakuten Eagles (20th, ZOZO Marine Stadium) = Cancelled due to rain =

On the 20th, the Chiba Lotte Marines announced that their game against Rakuten Eagles (at ZOZO Marine Stadium), scheduled to start at 6 p.m., had been canceled due to rain. This is the third game cancellation this season. pitcher Kazuya Ojima (29), who will be starting the game on the 21st, worked up a sweat in the indoor practice facility.

On the same day, the CONCACAF World Cup group stage match between Japan and Tunisia is scheduled to start at 1pm Japan time on the 21st. Kojima is a soccer fan, but with Rakuten Eagles game scheduled to start at 5pm, he showed his awareness of the situation, saying, "I'll definitely focus on my own game. I have DAZN so I can watch it anytime," and vowed to concentrate on his starting position on mound.

This season, he has a record of 2 wins and 4 losses ERA 2.57 in 7 games. He had high expectations from Rakuten's manager Rakuten Eagles, who was the manager of Lotte until last season and made a surprise appointment on the 17th, so he was sometimes criticized when he had a disappointing pitch. This will be his first appearance in front of his former mentor, but on the 19th he emphasized his ability to stay calm, saying, "I'm facing the opposing hitter, so I'm not going to worry about that and I'm just going to focus on doing what I need to do."