◆ Pacific League Seibu Lions Softbank Hawks (July 7th, Belluna Dome)

Softbank Hawks won a close game against second-place Seibu Lions, reducing their magic number for winning the championship to 35. Starting pitcher Haru Matsumoto delivered a brilliant performance, runs only one run and striking out 10 strike out innings, earning his career-high seventh win.

He continued his runs pitch by utilizing a wide-breaking curveball and slider, as well as fastballs such as cutter. In the fifth inning, with the score 1-0, he gave up a solo home run to Tsuge, the leadoff batter, but he pitched patiently and kept runs to a minimum. Supported by the offense, he was awarded the win. The left-hander expressed his joy honestly, saying, "win means a lot to me."

Manager Kokubo also praised him, saying, "With a pitch like that, we in the coaching staff think he can do at least this well today." Haru Matsumoto is determined to rack up more wins, saying, "I'm happy, but this is only the first game of the second half of the season. I want to keep working hard from here on out."