◆Pacific League Orix Buffaloes 0-3 Lotte (6th, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

The Orix Buffaloes' lineup was silenced with only 3 hits, suffering their 14th shutout game loss of the season. They were held hitless and scoreless through the end of the 7th inning by the opposing left-hander Lucchesi. Manager Mamoru Kishida tipped his hat, saying, 'He seemed quite difficult to hit. He threw many fastballs in terms of percentage. Between his height and the way he was effectively wild, we just couldn't find a way to break him down.'

The biggest missed opportunity was in the second inning. With one out, Kurebayashi, Mune, and Ikeda reached base on three consecutive Walk. However, Kurebayashi had strayed too far on Wakatsuki's fly ball to center and was unable to tag up. With two outs and the bases loaded, Mugitani flew out to left, resulting in no runs. 'We really wanted that one run... but more than that, we were completely shut down,' he said, showing his frustration.

On the mound, starter Soya took his seventh loss (against five wins) after giving up three runs in five innings. Considering he allowed six hit and three walks/Hit by Pitch, he remarked, "Overall, it seemed like he was struggling with his ball control."

The team missed out on their first three-game sweep of the same opponent in three months, since the Yakult series (Kyocera Dome Osaka) from June 9th to 11th, and fell back to five games under .500. The manager emphasized, "We just have to reset and try again."