◆ Pacific League Softbank Hawks 7-2 Lotte (May 5th, Mizuho PayPay Stadium)

Lotte’s starting left-hander, Kazuya Ojima, gave up a three-run homer to Kondo to right-center field in the first inning and finished with a line of 2 hit, 3 walks Hit by Pitch, and 3 runs over three innings—a disappointing performance that led to his fifth loss of the season.

In the first inning, Walk Masaki, the leadoff batter, and hit Shuto with a pitch, putting him in Hit by Pitch with no outs and runners on first and second. He then gave up a home run to Kondo, and reflected regretfully, "I don't really know why that happened... I'll carefully review the video and reflect on it. I have to reflect on giving up multiple runs in the first half."

Manager Saburo also criticized Kojima's "one-man show," saying, "It's as you can see. One thing I can say is that this isn't Kojima's game. The whole team is playing defense and hitting together. He often leads the game into unfavorable situations as pitcher, so I replaced him early. I want him to think about those around him, not just himself."

He then added, "I think he's pitcher capable of that much. Just switch gears a bit. I'm looking forward to a good pitching performance next time," expressing his hopes for revenge in the next game.

A win for the team would have given them their first ever "three wins above .500" under Saburo's management, but this season they've lost all four games since entering the season with a "two wins above .500" lead. They've been thwarted by the "three wins above .500" barrier. (Hiroshi Kato)