◆ Pacific League: Nippon-Ham vs. Seibu Lions (October 10th, ES CON FIELD)

Seibu Lions won the first game of their series against Nippon-Ham, averting the threat of dropping to third place. Starting pitcher Natsuki Takeuchi pitched well, allowing only four hit and one runs seven innings to earn his sixth win of the season, his first in a month. The offense struggled against the opposing ace, Ito, but outfielder Masayuki Kuwahara hit a crucial game-tying solo home run in the seventh inning, leading to a come-from-behind victory.

The game was tough until midfield. The score was 0-0 in the third inning. With one out and a runner on third, Narama, on third runner, got off to a perfect start against Mizutani's grounder to third and charged to home plate. Watanabe handled the ball and briefly regained his grip before throw to home plate, but the ball veered to the first base, allowing Narama to score. By the sixth inning, the leadoff batter had reached base three times, but the next batters went down and no runs were scored.

It was Kuwabara who shook off the unfavorable momentum. In the 7th inning with one out, the score was 0-1. He retired Ito's first pitch, a slider. The ball was sucked into the left field stands. Regarding his first solo home run in 34 games, he beamed and said, "The result of aggressively hitting the ball turned out to be home run, and I'm glad we were able to tie the game."

In the eighth inning, they created a scoring opportunity with runners on second and third base with one out against Shimamoto, who had ERA of 0.75 (before the game), and Nevin hit sacrifice fly to left field to take the lead.

In July, after seven races, they finally secured their second win. With this close victory, the "Seibu Lions Express" will gain momentum as they continue to chase down the leaders.