◆ Pacific League Orix Buffaloes 2-3 Lotte (26th, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

Orix Buffaloes suffered their first loss of the season at their home stadium, Kyocera Dome Osaka, in their ninth game against the Chiba Lotte Marines. They were unable to win their final game before the All-Star break, finishing the first half of the season with a .500 winning percentage. Their two-game winning streak came to an end.

On this day, Kuri started for the third consecutive game with only five days of rest, following his starts against Softbank Hawks on the 8th (Kyocera Dome Osaka), Rakuten Eagles on the 14th (Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi), and Nippon-Ham on the 20th (Kyocera Dome Osaka). In the first inning, with one out, he gave up a solo home run to Yamaguchi to left field, and in the second inning, he allowed another solo home run to Soto, the leadoff batter. He gave up another run in the fifth inning, and was taken out of the game after six innings, runs nine hit and strike out, and striking out 10. He threw 127 pitches and pitched a great game, but suffered his seventh loss (7 wins).

In the sixth inning, Ota hit his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot over the center field fence, his second in as many games. In the eighth inning, with the bases bases loaded and one out, Moritomo hit a timely single to right field, narrowing the gap to one run. However, Kurebayashi then flied out to the catcher, and pinch hitter Sugisawa flied out to right field.

The nine-game series ended with a record of 4 wins and 5 losses. After the All-Star break, the second half of the season will begin with the game Seibu Lions on the 31st (Belluna Dome).