◆ Pacific League Rakuten Eagles Nippon-Ham (3rd, Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi)

Rakuten Eagles win Nippon-Ham, ending their three-game losing streak.

The relief players made the difference in the game. In the second inning, with the score tied 0-0, McCusker hit a solo home run to right-center field off Ito. It was his seventh home run of the season and gave his team the lead. In the sixth inning, with a one-run lead and runners on first and second with one out, McCusker hit an RBI single to left field. Asamura then hit sacrifice fly field to add another run. In the eighth inning, Muneyama, who had been promoted to the first team that day, hit sweep doble sealing the victory.

Manager Yoshii himself brought up the topic and praised Asamura's hitting. In the sixth inning with a two-run lead and bases loaded loaded with one out, Asamura hit sacrifice fly, bringing in a crucial additional run. "Asamura's fly ball to outfield was really big for the offense, and I thought it was amazing that he could hit it so well in that situation. Please make sure to write that down," he exclaimed.

Hayakawa, who took the mound as the starting pitcher, pitched well. He kept the ball low breaking ball and shut down hitter. In the seventh inning, with a three-run lead, he faced a jam with one out and runners on first and third but remained unflappable.He escaped the jam with back-to-back struck out. Hayakawa pitched eight innings, allowing two hit and no runs. He led the team to a win with a commanding pitch that resulted in 12 struck out. The manager smiled and said, “He was fantastic. He never looked in danger from the very first inning.”