◆ Pacific League: Rakuten Eagles 2-5 Nippon-Ham (4th, Rakuten Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi)

The Rakuten Eagles were defeated by Nippon-Ham, and their winning streak stopped at two.

They lost control of the game right from the start. The starter, Koja, gave up a Walk to Reyes with two outs in the first inning, creating a crisis with runners on first and second, followed by an RBI hit to center by Nomura. Furthermore, with two outs and runners on second and third, he allowed a two-run RBI hit to right by Mizuno. In the fifth inning, after narrowing the gap to one run, he gave up a two-run home run to left field to Reyes with a runner on first and no outs. The lead was widened again. He left the mound after five innings, allowing 8 hits, 4 Walks and Hit by Pitches, and 5 runs. He suffered his 10th loss.

Manager Yoshii commented on Koja's first inning. While noting that 'it is a sport with an opponent,' he pointed out, 'It would have been fine if he had issued a walk out of caution for Reyes' power and then got the closer, but he lacked the experience to be that decisive. It would have been better if he had just walked Mizuno as well to make it bases loaded and gone after the next batter, but instead, it felt like he tried too hard to save one run and ended up giving up three.'

The commander hopes for the growth of the inexperienced third-year left-hander. He urged him to use this as a learning experience, saying, 'There are times when a starting pitcher has to just grit their teeth and push through the beginning of the game. I want him to learn that.'

In the second inning, Tatsumi hit his 12th solo home run of the season off Kitayama, setting a new career high. McCusker added his 21st solo shot in the fourth, but the lineup's efforts fell short.