◆ Pacific League Orix Buffaloes 9-6 Rakuten Eagles (3rd, Tokyo Dome)

First base umpire Kenji Akimura commented after the game on the ejection of Rakuten Eagles 's McCusker for insulting him. "At first he was raising his hand and complaining, so I went over to him and said, 'Let's stop this,' kind of as a warning, and he stopped, so we went home. But then he did the same thing again after we got back to the dugout, so I thought that was an insult to me."

The stadium erupted in chaos in the first inning, after scoring the first run and with no outs and runners on first and second base. McCusker appeared to stop his swing, but first base umpire Akimura ruled it a swing. McCusker made a gesture that seemed to object to the call and was ejected for insulting the referee. Manager Yoshii also rushed out of the dugout to demand confirmation.

He continued to raise his hand even after returning to the bench, and this repeated behavior was perceived as insulting. "He stopped once, but then he went back to the bench and repeated the same thing again, so we told him that was unacceptable," he explained.

According to reports, manager Yoshii was seeking confirmation during the protest. umpire Akimura revealed the exchange, saying, "It wasn't a protest. He was asking for an explanation of what happened. I told him, 'This is why I sent him off.' In the end, the manager said, 'I understand.'"