◆ Pacific League Nippon-Ham 2-6 Softbank Hawks (16th, ES CON FIELD)

Nippon-Ham failed to hold onto their lead twice and suffered come-from-behind losses. They lost the series 1-2, bringing their season record against Softbank Hawks to 2-12. The gap between them and the league leaders widened to 5 games.

In the fourth inning, Gunji's timely single to left field gave them the lead. However, in the very next inning, the fifth, a fielding error by Mizuno put them in a difficult situation, and Kondo's timely single to left field tied the game.

In the fifth inning, immediately after being tied, Narama hit his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot over left field. They regained the lead, but in the very next inning, the sixth, Yanagida hit his eleventh home run of the season, a solo shot over right field, bringing the game back to a tie.

In the seventh inning, with the score tied, starting pitcher Ito was hit hard by Softbank Hawks lineup. After consecutive hits by Shuto and Kondo doble on second and third with no outs, Makihara hit a two-run double to left-center field. Ito was then taken out of the game, but the second pitcher, Uehara, gave up a two-run homer to Kurihara, his 27th of the season, allowing four runs to score in that inning.

Ito gave up 9 hit 5 runs (4 earned) in the middle of the 7th inning, suffering his fifth loss of the season.