◆ Pacific League Nippon-Ham 4-3 Rakuten Eagles (25th, ES CON FIELD)

Rakuten Eagles 's relief pitchers faltered in the late innings, resulting in walk-off loss.

It was a tumultuous start. Both teams led the first inning with no runs scored. Starter Shoji immediately gave up a solo home run to left field to Mizuno. Still, with two outs and bases loaded in a crisis, Tatsumi made a great catch to the ball behind center field. He did not allow any additional runs. After that, he pitched well, mixing in fastballs like splitter. In the seventh inning, with a one-run lead, Narama was caught up with a middle sacrifice fly, but he managed to score 6 hit 2 runs in the seventh. Regarding Shoji, Manager Yoshii praised him, saying, "He worked hard until the seventh. He held firm and ran one runs in the seventh. I really wanted him to closer to zero, but he wasn't overtaken. I think he's been working hard both last time and this time," and added, "There's a bit more to catch up," wishing him further growth.

In the 8th inning, with a one-run lead, new import Marte made his debut on the mound. He faced a jam with runners on first and third with one out, and gave up sacrifice fly to Kiyomiya, tying the game. In the 9th inning, Tai gave up a walk-off hit to Narama, lose. Regarding Marte's debut, the manager expressed optimism for the future, saying, "According to people who were watching from behind, he was aiming too high and the batters weren't swinging at him, so if he can get the batters to swing at him lower, he'll probably be hitting ground balls. He was behind in the count and gave up a fly ball on a high two-seam two seam fastball. He was beaten today, but I think he was throwing some good pitches."

The relief pitcher is expected to play a key role in the team's win formula. Manager Yoshii explained, "I'd like him to pitch somewhere other than the ninth inning, between the sixth and eighth innings."