◆ Pacific League: Rakuten Eagles 4-0 Orix Buffaloes (2nd, Morioka)

Rakuten Eagles won against Orix Buffaloes, marking their second consecutive win.

In the bottom of the third inning with two outs and runners on second and third in a scoreless game, YG Yasuda took a 1-2 count and swung compactly at Tomiyama's low inside pitch, driving it into center field. It was a two-run hit to take the lead. The in-form YG Yasuda broke the deadlock.

In the fifth inning, with two outs and runners on first and second, McCusker hit a two-run triple through the right-center gap, extending the lead.

On the mound, the starter Shoji pitched with great tenacity. In the first inning, he faced a crisis with a runner on second and one out, but he remained unfazed. He struck out Kurebayashi and Ota back-to-back to start the game with zero runs. Even after that, he continued to pitch tenaciously while allowing runners on base. He retired batters using a combination of splitters and fastballs exceeding 150 km/h. It was a superb performance of 8 innings, 7 hits, 0 runs, and 12 strike outs. He earned his 7th victory of the season.