Pacific League: Nippon-Ham 9-7 Lotte (29th, ES CON FIELD)

Nippon-Ham won a wild back-and-forth battle to secure their third consecutive victory, bringing their record to 13 games above .500 and tying their season high.

In his first professional start, first-round draft pick Okawa gave up a go-ahead 3-run homer to Sato in the third inning, his 14th of the season, and then allowed a solo home run to his Meiji University senior Ueda in the fourth inning, giving up four runs. He finished with 4 hit, 4 runs allowed, 4 Walk, and 2 strike out in 4 innings, and did not receive a win or loss decision.

In the third inning, Tamiya's solo shot pulled one run back. Trailing by three runs in the fourth, the lineup immediately went on the offensive against Lotte starter Jackson, who had lost his composure after expressing dissatisfaction with a call. With one out and the bases loaded, Otsuka hit a two-run doble down the right-field line, and Tamiya followed with a two-run triple over right field to take the lead. Yamagata then executed a squeeze, and the team captured a total of five runs in the inning.

However, in the fifth inning, reliever Uehara ran into trouble. He gave up a solo home run to Yamaguchi, his 27th of the season, and then allowed four consecutive hits, giving up three runs and allowing the opposing team to regain the lead.

Nevertheless, in the bottom of the fifth, the lineup clicked once more. With one out and runners on second and third following back-to-back hits by Reyes and Nomura off Lotte's second pitcher, Ono, Imagawa launched a three-run homer over the left-field fence—his third of the season—to reclaim the lead yet again and seal the victory.