◆ Pacific League Orix Buffaloes 3x-2 Lotte (24th, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

Lotte Stages a Comeback walk-off but loses. After entering the series with a 1.5-game deficit against 4th-place Orix Buffaloes, they lost the first game of the three-game series, sealing their position in 5th place heading into the All-Star break.

Starting pitcher Tokito Kawamura gave up one run in the first inning due to errors and his own wild pitches, but pitched brilliantly until the eighth inning, allowing only one runs. Manager Saburo entrusted mound to the right-hander, who had held Orix Buffaloes lineup hit from the second to the eighth inning, for the ninth inning as well, but it backfired.

After the game, manager Saburo explained his decision to keep Kawamura in the game, saying, "I had no intention of replacing him. He himself asked to be allowed to continue. I couldn't replace him after he was pitching like that." On the other hand, he looked disappointed that the team couldn't score any more runs after scoring in the first inning with Neftalí Soto home run by outfielder Koki Yamaguchi his 16th of the season) and in the second inning with a solo home run infielder Neftali Soto (his 12th of the season), saying, "We couldn't score any runs at all from the third inning onwards. If we had scored even one or two runs, I think Kawamura could have pitched with more ease."

Despite throwing a career-high 117 pitches, Kawamura missed out on his first complete game win in his sixth year as a professional. He said dejectedly, "I was in good form, but I'm disappointed that I couldn't closer the game when the manager entrusted it to me at the end."