◆ Pacific League Orix Buffaloes 5-3 Lotte (25th, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

Lotte suffered another close loss, following their walk-off-off defeat the previous night, making it eight games in a row at Kyocera Dome this season.

In the fifth inning, trailing by two runs, Kyota Fujiwara outfielder caught up with a two-run doble, but in the seventh, third pitcher Shunsuke Nakamori pitcher gave up a painful go-ahead solo home run to the eighth batter, Fukunaga. In the eighth inning, Shota Suzuki pitcher again gave up one run and pulled away.

After the game, Manager Saburo said, “We get pretty close, though.It’s just one more step, one more hit, one more pitch, isn’t it?” he said, looking frustrated by the narrow loss. Regarding the deciding factor in the game, he noted, “Today, the difference came down to the cleanup hitters. Their player, Ota, even though he’s the cleanup hitter, was stringing together hits to advance runners, while Yasuda was struck out,” pointing out the contrast between Orix Buffaloes Ota and his own team’s Naonori Yasuda infielder.

What the manager described as "the difference was clear" was the at-bat where both cleanup hitters came forward with no outs and runners on second. Ota advanced with a groundout to first from a runner on second with no outs in the eight runner h inning, delivering a decisive run to the plate. On the other hand, Yasuda fell to a swing struck out with no outs and a runner on second in the fourth inning from count-0, unable to create a chance.

Even in the fifth inning, when they tied the game, they had a chance to take the lead with one out and a runner on third, but the next batters failed to make an impact. It was a situation where they just couldn't get that "one more step, one more hit." The rookie manager said, "We play good games, but we lose because of the difference in mistakes. The team is still young, so they just have to gain experience. I want to be patient and be able to give them good advice," expressing his hope for the players' growth.