◆ Pacific League Seibu Lions 0-3 Softbank Hawks (26th, Belluna Dome)

Seibu Lions Lions manager Fumiya Nishiguchi summarized the first half of the season, which consisted of 96 games, by saying, "I think we've really fought well as a team up to this point."

In the interleague series, they won all their series against every team in the Central Central League. With a record of 14 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw, and a record-high winning percentage of .824, they achieved their first-ever championship in franchise history. outfielder Shinya Hasegawa played in 16 games, recording 22 hit At Bat 60 at-bats for a batting average of .367, 2 Home Run, and 9 RBI, and was awarded the Most Valuable Player award. He is the first Seibu Lions player to receive the award, and it was a first for a player who came up through the development program to win the award in NPB history.

After playing 96 games in the first half of the season, the team is in second place with a record of 53 wins, 40 losses, and 3 ties. The manager reflected, "We were in a good position when the interleague games ended. Just like last year, we tend to lose after the interleague games, so we have to think about various things again after the All-Star break. We have to come up with solid countermeasures. We will do our best to hold onto this position and of course aim higher." The team will enter the second half of the season 5.5 games behind first-place Softbank Hawks and 0.5 games behind third-place Nippon-Ham, aiming for their first league championship since 2019.