Pacific League: Orix Buffaloes 7-5 Rakuten Eagles (26th, Kyocera Dome)

The Rakuten Eagles suffered a come-from-behind loss to the Orix Buffaloes.

Starter Shoji, who was given five runs of support by the second inning, allowed three runs in the third on timely hits by Kita and Ota, among others. In the fifth, he gave up a timely hit to left field to Kurebayashi. He left the mound after six innings, having allowed eight hits and four runs. Manager Yoshii commented, 'I think the game flow was such that Shoji really should have pitched through the seventh or eighth inning more efficiently, but even so, there are days when you're not in good form. It must have been a struggle, but I can give him some credit for pitching through the sixth inning.'

In the fifth inning, they were down by one run, but he also entrusted the sixth inning to Shoji. "If starting mound pitcher goes down in 103 pitches, he can never become the ace. He was willing to go, and no, I don't doubt that. From the team's expectations of Shoji, I think he absolutely has to pitch inning. I think that's normal," he explained.

Tai, who took the mound in the 8th inning with a one-run lead, struggled. With no outs and a runner on second, he made a bad throw to first on a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher. The runner on second scored, and the game was tied. Furthermore, with one out and a runner on second, he gave up a go-ahead triple to right-center to Wakatsuki. Manager Yoshii expressed his hope for Tai's growth, saying, "If those kinds of plays (bunt handling) aren't executed properly, it results in this. Since baseball is a sport with an opponent, I won't say getting hit is unavoidable, but I want him to do what he can do firmly. Especially since he is a pitcher used in winning situations. I want him to make sure he never makes that kind of mistake."