■Professional Baseball Hanshin 7-6 DeNA (29th, Koshien)

DeNA suffered a come-from-behind loss to Hanshin. The game started in the bottom of the 7th inning with a 4-run lead, and although Hayao Nakagawa (25), Diaz (25), and Daimu Ise (26) took the mound, they were unable to hold on and allowed 5 runs in the inning. As for the batting lineup, Keita Sano (29) had a timely hit for the second consecutive at-bat, and Toshiro Miyazaki (35) and Hidego Maki (26) also hit in a timely manner, but they were just one step behind.

DeNA is in 3rd place with 67 wins, 65 losses and 3 draws so far, with 2 points. They are 4 games behind second place Hanshin and 1.5 games behind fourth place Hiroshima. Starting from this day, they will play two consecutive games against Hanshin at Koshien, and in the first game Katsuki Higashi (28) took the mound as a starter. Before the game, East had 13 wins, 4 losses, and an ERA of 2.12. In his last pitching match against Yakult on the 23rd (Yokohama Stadium), he conceded 4 runs in the 7th inning and lost. This pitching was his 26th game of the season.

In the first inning, Koki Kajiwara (25), the leadoff hitter, hit a double to right that broke through the first base line against Hanshin’s starting pitcher Hiroto Saiki (25). No. 2 Masashi Kuwabara (31) makes a send bunt and has one out and 3rd base. Then, No. 3 Sano hit a timely hit to the center and scored the first point.

Behind that, East got off to a good start by allowing Koji Chikamoto (29), the leadoff hitter, to get on base, but he struck out No. 2, Takumu Nakano (28), and struck out No. 3, Shota Morishita (24), for a free grounder. He got 2 deaths. Next, No. 4 Yusuke Oyama (29) was hit to the left, resulting in no runs.

In the top of the 3rd inning, No. 9 Azuma, who started the inning, got on base with a hit to right. From first base with one out, No. 2 Kuwabara hit a left-handed hit and connected, and No. 3 Sano hit a timely hit to left field to score the second point.

In the bottom of the third inning with a two-run lead, with two out and no runners out, No. 2, Nakano, was allowed to get on base with a pop hit in front of center field, and No. 3, Morishita, hit a timely double to center field, giving him one point back.

Then, in the bottom of the 5th inning, with no runners out and no runners out, No. 8 Seiya Kinami (30) hit a left-handed hit, allowing him to get on base. A bunt was sent to Saiki, the 9th batter, and the runner was placed in scoring position, and the runner advanced during a grounder by the 1st batter Chikamoto, resulting in two outs and 3rd base. Next, No. 2 Nakano hit a timely hit to left field, which tied the score at 2-2.

In the second half of the game, in the top of the 6th inning, the leadoff hitter, No. 2 Kuwabara, got on base with a middle hit. No. 3, Sano, hit an infield hit to third, and No. 4, Maki, connected with a hit over the head of the center fielder, creating a good opportunity to load the bases with no outs. No. 5, Miyazaki, caught the first pitch and hit a timely double to right field. They won by two points and took the lead again, 4-2. No. 7, Hikaru Ito (35) tried a squeeze but missed. However, Maki, the runner on third base, successfully stole home and added a fifth point.

East retired after giving up 2 runs on 75 pitches in the 5th inning. From the bottom of the 6th inning, No. 2, Hayao Nakagawa, took the mound, and with one out and no runner, he allowed No. 5, Teruaki Sato (25), to walk and get on base. However, he hit pinch hitter Ukyo Maekawa (21) into a second double play, resulting in no runs.

In the final stages of the 7th inning, No. 1 Kajiwara reached base with a double to right field against Hanshin’s No. 2 Taisei Urushihara (28) with one out and no runner. After that, No. 3 Sano chose to walk, and with two outs and 1st and 3rd base, No. 4 Maki hit a timely hit to center field, making it 6-2.

Behind the scenes, Hayao Nakagawa walked No. 7 Ryutaro Umeno (33) on the mound in the second inning, and No. 8 Kinami’s batted ball was an infield hit to second base, but Maki’s bad throw got involved and he ended up on second and third base with no outs. The next batted ball from pinch hitter Kento Itohara (31) was a timely hit to left field, closing the gap to three points. At this point, Hayao Nakagawa stepped down and Diaz, the third man, took the pitch. No. 1, Chikamoto, hit a sacrifice fly to center field, making the difference 6-4. After grounding out to No. 2, Nakano, and getting two outs, he started pitching, and No. 4, Ise, pitched as well, giving a walk to No. 3, Morishita, and allowing No. 4, Oyama, to hit a timely hit to right field, 6-5. 1 point difference. Furthermore, No. 5, Teru Sato, hit a timely triple to left field, allowing the team to reverse the game.

The batting line was chasing one point, but the game ended without scoring in the 8th or 9th inning. This result confirmed Hanshin’s second place.