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

After finishing their 121st game of the season with 47 wins, 73 losses, and 1 draw—putting them 26 games below .500—the Rakuten Eagles have been completely eliminated from contention for the Climax Series (CS). Manager Masato Yoshii, who took over mid-season, accepted the result, stating, 'This can't be helped. It is what it is. The players are working hard. I feel sorry for the fans, but we will continue to work hard while looking ahead to the future.'

Hayakawa was unable to fulfill his role as the starting pitcher. The momentum of the game shifted toward the opponent in the third inning. After giving up consecutive hits to the leadoff batters Narama and Hosokawa, facing a crisis with runners on first and third and no outs, a double steal was attempted during the next batter Shindo's plate appearance. While Ota made a throw to second base, the third-base runner Narama crossed the plate, giving up the opening run.

Furthermore, with two outs and runners on first and second, he gave up a three-run home run to Reyes that was driven into right-center field.

Trailing 0-4 with two outs in the fifth inning, he gave up a solo home run to Gunji into the left-center stands, resulting in a five-run deficit.

The lineup, looking to fight back, repeatedly put runners in scoring position in the first, fourth, and sixth innings, but failed to get the timely hit. Later, they scored a run on Nakajima's grounder to second from a one-out, second-and-third opportunity in the seventh. They added another run in the eighth via YG Yasuda's RBI single, but were unable to complete the comeback.

This season, former manager Miki took a leave of absence on June 10, with head coach Shiokawa serving as acting manager. One week later, on June 17, Manager Yoshii took office. Although entrusted with rebuilding the team, the difficult struggle continued. The manager intends to continue focusing on developing young players with an eye toward next season, stating, 'I want to continue giving everyone chances,' indicating a policy of providing playing opportunities to players in their 20s to improve the team's strength for next year.

On this day, which marked the end of the season with 22 games remaining, the stadium was coincidentally sold out. The Rakuten Eagles fans who packed the stadium headed home with heavy steps.

▽Rakuten Eagles' Hayakawa (suffered 7th loss after giving up 5 runs on 4 hits, including 2 home runs, in 6 innings): "It was a matter of whether the pitching and hitting could click. It's not exactly a wave, but if both the pitchers and batters can reduce their ups and downs, I think we can reach a good position in the standings next year."