Pacific League: Seibu Lions 3-1 Nippon-Ham (25th, Belluna Dome)

Seibu Lions Lions pitcher Kaima Taira (26) pitched 7 innings, throwing 105 pitches, allowing only 6 hit and no runs while strike out 9, earning his second double-digit win since 2023 when he had 11 wins. ERA is now 1.46, and he has reached the required innings pitched, moving him to the top of the league. The gap between him and first-place Softbank Hawks remains unchanged at 5.5 games, but the gap between him and third-place Nippon-Ham has narrowed to 4 games.

It was a pitching duel with pitcher Hiromi Ito (28), who was a teammate on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics Japan national team. In the first inning, he retired the side in order with just seven pitches, including striking out Kotaro Kiyomiya swinging with one out. In the second inning, he struck out two consecutive batters and finished the inning in nine pitches, keeping his pitch count to just 16 by the end of the second. In the third inning, after allowing a hit to center field by Tamiya with two outs and no runners, he put a runner on for the first time, and then third baseman Watanabe committed an error on Narama's ground ball. Despite facing a jam with runners on first and third and two outs, he shifted gears, throwing three 159 km/h pitches to Kiyomiya and getting him to ground out to third to escape the inning.

In the fourth inning, he faced a cleanup from third batter Reyes, but after 14 pitches, he retired all three batters, including two struck out. In the fifth inning, he was hit by consecutive hits from leadoff hitter Otsuka and Mizutani, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Otsuka started with runner third baseman on right line line from Asama, but Canario from right fielder tagged out with a good throw. At a critical moment, manager Shinjo of Nippon-Ham requested a call, but the call was not overturned, and he held his ground with no runs. Then, in the bottom of the fifth, Nakata's timely triple allowed the long-awaited lead run.

In the sixth inning, with a one-run lead, Taira faced a crisis with two outs and runners on first and second, but quickly shifted gears. On the first pitch against Arison, the 85th pitch, he recorded the fastest pitch of the day at 160 km/h, and on five of the six pitches (85~90th), he hit 160 km/h, scoring a struck out off Arison, and electrifying the home field. In the bottom of the sixth, he created a bases loaded chance with one out with three consecutive hits from the sixth hole, and Nakata again hit the left sacrifice fly. He extended his lead with two consecutive RBI in two consecutive at-bats, a dark horse that had gone RBI-0 this season. He faced a crisis with runners on first and second and no outs in the seventh inning, but was pulled without runs after swinging struck out at 159 km/h from Narama.

Taira debuted as a reliever in 2019. He led the league in appearances in 2020 and 2022, and also earned the most holds in the league in 2022. However, he maintained a desire to convert to a starting pitcher, and in 2023, he moved to the rotation and recorded 11 wins. In the middle of 2024, he returned to relief once more, and in 2025, he achieved the most saves. This season, after converting back to a starter, he has been working at full capacity as the core of the rotation since the opening, reaching double-digit wins with 26 regular-season games remaining.

In the eighth inning with a two-run lead, Wingenter took the mound in. After giving up a solo home run to leadoff hitter Sachi Kiyomiya, the lead was cut to one run, and the team continued to face a one-out bases loaded crisis with two Walk and other innings. Still, they managed to defend the lead by scoring consecutive swing-and-miss struck out off Mizutani and Asama.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, Nakada hit another RBI triple. The man who previously had only three career RBIs put on a dominant performance with three RBIs in a single game, and the team held on for the victory.

◆ Taira's career to date

In 2019, his second year out of high school, he made his first-team debut in July as a reliever and appeared in 26 games, all in relief. During the off-season, he made a direct appeal expressing his desire to convert to a starting pitcher.

In '20, he appeared in a league-leading 54 games, recording 33 holds and a 1.87 ERA.

In 2021, he pitched in a career-high 62 games with 20 saves and a 0.90 ERA. He also participated in the Tokyo Olympics.

In 2022, he pitched in a league-leading 61 games and recorded a league-leading 34 holds with an ERA of 1.56. During contract negotiations after the season, he directly requested a conversion to a starting pitcher, but it was not approved, and he put the contract on hold. Eventually, the conversion was granted, and he did not participate in the March 2023 WBC.

In '23, he converted to a starter. In 23 appearances, all of which were starts including his first professional start, he went 11-7 with a 2.40 ERA.

In 2024, he made the opening day rotation, but partly due to injury, he was moved to the bullpen midway through the season. He appeared in 22 games, with only five of those being starts.

In '25, the first year of Manager Nishiguchi's tenure, he became the closer and won the save leader title, recording 31 saves in 54 appearances.

2014: Converted back to a starting pitcher. Although he withdrew from the WBC due to a left calf strain before the season, he worked at full capacity as the centerpiece of the rotation.