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

Nippon-Ham lost their head-to-head matchup against the second-place Seibu Lions, and the gap between them and second place widened to four games. This marks their third consecutive loss since the game against Lotte at ZOZO on the 21st.

Manager Shinjo mentioned the difference in offense with the bases loaded. "The Lions hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded. We couldn't. We lost because of that difference. If we had caught up to a tie, our pitcher would have been different too." In the 6th inning, the Seibu Lions had Nakada hit a left sacrifice fly with one out and the bases loaded, but his own team missed a chance to tie the game in the 8th inning with one out and the bases loaded while trailing 1-2, as Mizutani struck out swinging at a high ball from Wingenter. "It was too high at the end. I want him to be aware of that area and lay off the low ones. The opposing pitcher is also a good pitcher, so it's difficult, but since we're both professionals, we won't win unless we break through that." He lamented the difference in self-sacrifice and team batting to squeeze out a single run, which had been identified as a challenge since the February camp.