◆ Pacific League Rakuten Eagles Softbank Hawks (August 2nd, Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi)

Rakuten Eagles lost to Softbank Hawks, extending their losing streak to four games. Their deficit has now ballooned to a season-worst 20 games.

Starting pitcher Kosha allowed only one hit no runs through three innings. However, in the fourth inning, with a one-run lead, with one out and runners on first and second, Kurokawa at first base fumbled Yanagida's hard-hit ball (recorded as an error), allowing the opposing team to tie the game. With one out and runners on first and third, Yamamoto Yu hit a ground ball to second base, allowing the go-ahead run, followed by consecutive RBI hits from Makihara and Imamiya. Four runs were scored in this inning, and the opposing team took the lead.

The game fell apart in the sixth inning with the team trailing by one run. Koga put the team in a jam with runners on first and second and no outs, and was pulled from the game. Shibata came in as the second pitcher, but with one out and runners on second and third, he gave up a two-run shot to Kawase that sailed over the right-field fence doble.Furthermore, with two outs and a runner on third, three consecutive Walk resulted in runs. Nakagomi was brought in to relieve at this point, but he allowed a walk-off run to Yanagida Walk and another to Yu Yamamoto Walk. During Makihara’s at-bat, a wild pitch added another run runs. This inning involved six Walk, resulting in six runs. The lead was extended.

lose, giving up 10 runs, including nine Walk. In an interview after the game, manager Yoshii apologized to the fans who had cheered them on in the rain, saying, "They supported us until the very end today despite the rain, but we played poorly, so I'm sorry."

Relief pitchers Shibata and Nakagome repeatedly hit Walk. It turned into a miscalculation pitch. The manager pointed out, "Kosa is the same, but he tends to color the situation without permission, thinking, 'I can't do this,' or 'I can't do that,' and he can't pitch properly." It's not something you can easily achieve, but unless you improve, you can't aim for the top. Manager Yoshii said, "That might be the hardest part. But if you can't do that, you can't shine as a professional baseball player, so I want to do whatever I can."

The batting lineup saw solo home runs from Taira and McCusker, and they fought hard, racking up double-digit hit, but it wasn't enough.