◆ Pacific League Nippon-Ham 0-1 Seibu Lions (11th, ES CON FIELD)

Seibu Lions 's starting pitcher, Kaima Taira pitched seven scoreless innings, strike out five and runs only two hit, earning his eighth win of the season, his first in about a month. He won a tense pitcher duel against Nippon-Ham 's Ito, and let out a small sigh of relief, saying, "I'm glad we were able to win as a team."

He was in full gear from the very first inning. He gave the leadoff Mizuno a Hit by Pitch, then allowed the runners to advance between Hosokawa's grounder to third, putting a runner on second with one out. He put runner in scoring position and put even more effort into the game. He struck Mannami in the third batter Mannami with a swinging struck out with a 159 km/h fastball, and the cleanup batter, Reyes, also swung struck out with a 159 km/h fastball. He went head-on and started with no runs.

In the second inning, he retired the side in order. In the third inning, he was challenged by Yazawa, the leadoff batter, for nine pitches, but finally got him out with a ground ball to the pitcher on a 148 km/h fastball. He then got Isobata and Mizuno to ground out to second base and fly out to right field on 155 km/h fastballs.

In the fourth inning, he again retired three batters, including two consecutive swinging struck out off Mannami and Reyes. In the fifth inning, he gave up a Walk with one out and a runner on first, but retired Tamiya on a fly out to center and Yazawa to grounder to first.

In the sixth inning, he gave up the first hit of the day, hit to center field to Igarashi, putting a runner on third with two outs. He then shifted gears again. His first pitch to Manami was 158 km/h, and his second was 159 km/h, quickly putting him in a tough spot. He then pushed him with another 158 km/h fastball on the third pitch, forcing a fly ball to second base. He held firm and didn't allow the opposing team to score first.

In the seventh inning, he gave up a single to Reyes, the leadoff hit, but managed to closer the subsequent batters and leave the game runs. "I think I can strike out a few more struck out, so I will continue to work on improving pitch and take on the next challenge," he vowed, promising further growth.