On September 12, the 23rd round match between Saitama Seibu Lions and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham held in Belluna Dome ended in a 3-3 draw after extra inning matches.

Saitama Seibu Lions started Chihiro Sumida pitcher. Although they retired with three batters in the first inning, they gave up the lead in the top of the second with Reyes' solo home run of his 32nd. Still, in the top of the third, with one out and a runner on first, he got an out with his own pickout, and from the fourth onward, he continued to pitch for four consecutive inning without allowing a single runner.

Chasing one run, the lineup created a one-out bases loaded opportunity in the bottom of the fourth inning with hit of Seiya Watanabe, Taiga Hirasawa, and Junichiro Kishi. Sosuke Genda succeeded in taking the lead with a timely two-run doble, followed by Canario at sacrifice fly, making the score 3-1.

In the top of the eighth, pitcher Sumida hit a timely doble by Taiki Narama player with two outs and a runner on first, putting the game runs. Although the lead was narrowed to one run, he let the Tatsuki Mizuno player go and retired struck out, preventing the game from tying. However, with two outs in the top of the ninth, Hiroshi Kaino pitcher gave up consecutive long and short hits, bringing the game to the starting point. In the bottom of the ninth, all three batters retired in order, and the game entered a extra inning series.

In the top of the 10th, third pitcher Hibiki Shinohara pitcher retired the three batters in order, and in the top of the 11th, Shunsuke Sato pitcher was in trouble with one out and runners on second, but was runs without a hit. In the top of the 12th, Ryosuke Moriwaki pitcher retired with 10 pitches and waited for the lineup to run the ball. In the bottom of the 12th, with two outs, Taiga Kojima hit a hit, but in the end, Nevin grounded out to third.

For Saitama Seibu Lions, pitcher Sumida pitched well with 110 pitches, 6 hit no walks Hit by Pitch 8 strike out 2 runs over 8 innings. In the lineup, Genda recorded 2 hit 2 RBI including a go-ahead hit, while Kojima and Watanabe recorded 3 hit.

Meanwhile, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham pitched a strong performance with Hiromi Ito pitcher throwing 112 pitches over 8 innings, throwing 10 hit no walks Hit by Pitch 3 runs. He also hit 3 fielder’s choice on water, and Reyes posted a career-high 32 solo home runs since arriving in Japan with 2 hit 1 RBI.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total
F 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 3
L 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

F Hiromi Ito-Taisei Yanagawa-Mizuki Hori-Ren Fukushima-Leo Shibata
L Chihiro Sumida-Hiroshi Kaino-Hibiki Shinohara-Shunsuke Sato-Ryosuke Moriwaki

Text by So Yokoyama