◆Pacific League: Orix Buffaloes 7X-6 Lotte = 10th extra inning = (5th, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

After the game, Orix Buffaloes manager Mamoru Kishida commented on pitcher Kohei Azuma, who underwent ligament repair surgery combined with an internal brace for a right elbow medial collateral ligament injury at a hospital in Saga Prefecture on the 4th.

In this, his ninth professional season, he has been away from game action since his last appearance in a farm league game against the Hanshin Tigers (SGL) on July 18, undergoing more than a month of no-throw adjustment. Concerns about his right elbow have persisted over the past few years, and this surgery follows previous procedures in August of the year before last and November of last year. A return within this season is now hopeless. 'I think he is going through a lot of hardship in his rehabilitation, but I am sure he will work toward a comeback. On our end, we will support him and wait for his complete recovery,' it was promised.