Pacific League: Orix Buffaloes 4-3 Softbank Hawks (29th, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

For the Softbank Hawks, the disruption in defense took its toll until the very end. Manager Hiroki Kokubo commented only on the errors, saying, "That says it all." He bowed his head to the right-hander, who suffered his fourth loss with zero earned runs, saying, "I apologized to Otsu today."

In the third inning, he runs four in one go. With no outs and a runner on first, catcher and Yu Yamamoto made a bad throw to first base by Ni infield hit shikawa, putting runners on second and third. The bench prepared for a run and did not set up a forward defense, but starter Otsu held firm. After Sou hit a triple fly, Kurita swung struck out. With two outs and runners on second and third, it seemed Ota got out on a grounder to third, but Kurihara's bad throw to first gave up two runs. Then he hit three consecutive hits for two more runs. This massive runs weighed heavily on me.

The manager pointed out regarding Kurihara's play, "Everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes made while playing at full effort are unavoidable. But to me, I saw a moment of hesitation." He admonished the awkward one-bounce throw, asking, "Were you prepared?" He spoke in a strong tone, saying, "At a point where we were prepared to give up one run, Otsu was delivering pitches that didn't even allow an infield grounder. Then, on the next play, it seemed like he hesitated (about whether to throw on a bounce). I think that's a matter of preparation," before boarding the bus.