◆ Pacific League: Lotte 3x-2 Rakuten Eagles (8th, ZOZO Marine)

Rakuten Eagles suffered a walk-off loss to Lotte, marking their fourth consecutive defeat. They reached a season-worst 28 games below .500.

Starter Kenta Maeda gave up a solo home run to the leadoff hitter Inoue in the third inning when both teams were scoreless, surrendering the opening run. After that, he recorded outs at a good tempo, but in the fifth inning with the score tied, he gave up a triple to the ninth hitter Tsuyoshi Yamazaki with two outs, followed by a go-ahead RBI single to center by Fujiwara. He left the mound after six innings, allowing eight hits and two runs. He missed out on his fifth win of the season and his 170th career win between Japan and the US.

They caught up in the ninth inning while trailing by one run, but immediately after, Nishiguchi gave up consecutive Hit by Pitch with one out. In the end, they lost after giving up a walk-off hit to Yamaguchi.

Manager Yoshii pointed out the moment where runs were allowed after letting the bottom of the lineup get on base. He noted, "Nishiguchi looked like his usual self. However, the same can be said for Kenta Maeda, but if you let the bottom of the lineup reach base, it leads to the top of the order and results in that kind of development. That is the theory of baseball, but I want them to pitch with that firmly in mind."

The lineup struggled against Lotte's starting pitcher Haru Tanaka, being held to just one run through seven innings. Manager Yoshii took responsibility, stating, 'The way we issued instructions was poor. He pitched differently than what we had anticipated. The batters gave it their best effort, but our strategy and instructions were off the mark. The players worked hard.'