Pacific League Nippon-Ham 2-6 Rakuten (30th, Escon)
Nippon-Ham lost to their best team, Rakuten, and at this point they were 1.5 games behind the leader, Softbank, which has a game in the night game. They now have a 16-5 record against Rakuten this season.
Starting pitcher Takashi Kato was a miscalculation. He gave up a leadoff home run to Voit in the first inning, and although his team managed to turn the game around in the bottom of the inning, they were trailing by two points again in the third inning. “I’m sorry to the team for ruining their momentum, even though they were able to turn the game around from the first inning,” he said with a sigh.
After the match on the 29th, manager Shinjo said, “Every single day, that moment can be fatal. We will concentrate on the three-hour game. It doesn’t matter who performs well. The most important thing is to win,” and this was a painful loss in their bid to make a comeback and win the championship.
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