Pacific League: Nippon-Ham 6-4 Lotte (28th, ES CON FIELD)

Nippon-Ham held off Lotte's rally to win their second straight game, bringing their record back to 12 games over .500.

Trailing by one run in the third inning, Narama and Mizutani hit singles to put runners on first and third with one out. Kiyomiya Yuki hit a ground ball to first base (recorded as fielder’s choice), allowing the runner from third to score and tie the game. Reyes then followed with a go-ahead three-run homer, his 28th of the season, giving the team a four-run lead in the inning.

In the fifth inning, with the lead narrowed to two runs, Reyes struck again with two outs and a runner on first, launching a massive home run into the second deck in left field. This two-run shot, his 29th of the season and second in consecutive at-bats, extended the lead and sealed the victory.

Starting pitcher Kitayama allowed two solo Home Runs, to Yamaguchi in the first inning and Terachi in the fifth, but pitched well through six innings, allowing three hits and two runs. In the seventh inning, he left the mound after giving up a two-run RBI single to center to Yamazaki with two outs and the bases loaded, but Shimamoto acted as the closer to hold the following batters, and Kitayama earned his first double-digit 10th win, finishing with six hits and four runs in part of the seventh inning.