◆ Pacific League Rakuten Eagles Seibu Lions (22nd, Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi)

Seibu Lions ・ Yuto Koga catcher broke the deadlock in the match.

He started the game as the "number 5 designated hitter." In the bottom of the 8th inning with two outs and runners on first and second base, with the score still 0-0 in both teams, he said, "Sumida was pitch really well, so I wanted to get the win for him," and he connected with an outside fastball from the opposing team's second pitcher, Kutani, hitting a two-run doble down the right field line to give his team the lead.

He provided much-needed run support to starting pitcher Chihiro Sumida, a left-hander who was drafted in the same year as him in 2021 and had been pitch runs innings until the seventh. He smiled as he recalled, "I really wanted to score a run somehow. I was relieved when I finally got a hit."