On August 12, in the 17th round match between Tohoku Rakuten Eagles and Orix Buffaloes held at Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi, Tohoku Rakuten Eagles came from behind to win 7-2 win.

Starting pitcher Kenta Maeda pitcher pitched hard from the start, but in the top of the fourth inning as the rain intensified, with one out and a runner on first, Kotaro Kobayashi hit a go-ahead two-run homer. However, in the middle of the game, he fought tenaciously closer and waited for the lineup to provide support.

In the bottom of the sixth, trailing by two runs, leadoff player Fumiya Kurokawa hit his third solo homer. This signaled a comeback, linking the batting lineup with Daisuke Nakashima 's hit, Ryosuke Tatsumi 's Walk, and Rui Muneyama 's hit. With no outs bases loaded, cleanup hitter McCuscar grand slam to the left field stands. With a single offensive attack, they defeated Orix Buffaloes 's starter, Espinoza pitcher, and successfully came from behind to take a 5-2 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth, Rui Muneyama hit his third solo homer and YG Yasuda hit a timely hit to pull away, allowing Tohoku Rakuten Eagles to hold on to a 7-2 lead.

On the pitching front, starting pitcher Ken Maeda pitcher pitched well with 2 runs over 7 innings, achieving his 100th career NPB win. At the plate, McCuscar pitched 3 hit 4 RBI, and Muneyama pitched 3 hit 1 RBI. In the losing Orix Buffaloes, Espinoza pitcher pitched well through the 5th inning but was caught by the opposing lineup in the bottom of the 6th and suffered a come-from-behind loss.

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O 000200000 2
Raku 00000502X 7

O ● Espinoza -Taisuke Yamaoka-Ryoga Tomiyama-Shota Abe
Rakuten ○ Kenta Maeda-Katsutoshi Tai-Ren Kajiya

Text by Ayako Kikuchi