On September 10th, the 25th game between Fukuoka Softbank and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham, held at MIZUHO PayPay Dome, ended with a 3-2 win for Fukuoka Softbank. This brought their season record Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters to 18 wins, 5 losses, and 2 draws.

Fukuoka Softbank took the lead in the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run by Yuki Yanagita, his 14th of the season. However, in the top of the third inning, starting pitcher Haru Matsumoto Matsumoto gave up a game-tying solo home run to Yuya Shindo his 6th of the season. From then on, he allowed runner on base but managed to get out of jams when necessary, leaving mound after 5 innings with 2 hit, 5 walks Hit by Pitch, 4 strike out 1 runs.

The offense took the lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning with a solo home run by Tomoya Masaki, his 24th of the season, and in the bottom of the 4th inning, Yanagita hit his 15th solo home run, his second in as many at-bats. The relief pitcher, Hernandez and Osuna, held pitcher runs in the top of the 6th and 7th innings, respectively.

In the top of the 8th inning, pitcher Gota Suzuki runs one run, but in the top of the 9th inning, pitcher Kazuki Sugiyama closer three consecutive struck out to end the game 3-2. They won a close game and secured their third consecutive win in the series. Starting pitcher Haru Matsumoto earned his 10th win, his first time achieving double-digit win, while pitcher Sugiyama reached 30 saves for the second consecutive year.

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham 's starting pitcher, Takayuki Kato who was defeated, threw 99 pitches over 7 innings, allowing 7 hit 2 Walk, strike out 3, and giving up 3 runs. Despite a late-game comeback, they couldn't get the crucial hit and suffered their third consecutive loss.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
F 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2
H 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 X 3

F ●Takayuki Kato-Mizuki Hori
H ○Haru Matsumoto-Hernandez-Osuna-Gota Suzuki-S Kazuki Sugiyama

Text by Aoi Nemoto