On September 13, the 23rd game between Fukuoka Softbank and Chiba Lotte Marines was held at MIZUHO PayPay Dome, and Fukuoka Softbank won 7-4, marking their 6th consecutive win.

Fukuoka Softbank's starting pitcher Taiga Kamichatani gave up the opening run in the top of the 3rd inning due to a bases loaded Walk with two outs. Immediately after, in the bottom of the 3rd, the lineup caught up to a tie with Tomoya Masaki 's RBI doble with one out and a runner on second, and then succeeded in taking the lead with Yudai Yamamoto 's 2-run RBI doble after loading the bases loaded with two more Walk and two outs. In the bottom of the 4th, Masaki hit his 26th 2-run home run.

However, pitcher Kamichatani was pulled after giving up Koki Yamaguchi 's 28th solo home run and Toshiya Sato 's RBI hit in the top of the 5th with a 4-point lead. Pitcher Gota Suzuki, who took over with no outs and runners on 1st and 2nd, allowed one run to be returned during an infield grounder but did not allow a turnaround. Then, in the bottom of the 6th, Masaki's 27th solo home run and Kensuke Kondo 's 28th solo home run were hit back-to-back, expanding the lead to 7-4 by 3 points.

After pitcher Suzuki left the mound, pitcher Hernandez, pitcher Osuna, and pitcher Yuki Matsumoto each pitched one inning scoreless. In the top of the 9th with a 3-point lead, pitcher Kazuki Sugiyama closed the game, ending it at 7-4. In the winning Fukuoka Softbank, Masaki showed a great performance with 3 hit and 4 RBI, including home runs in two consecutive at-bats.

On the other hand, for Chiba Lotte Marines, pitcher Lucchesi could not set the pace of the game, giving up 5 runs on 6 hit, 4 Walk, and 4 strike out in 4 innings with 100 pitches. The lineup closed the gap to one run at one point but could not fully catch up, suffering their 3rd consecutive loss. Additionally, Sato recorded 2 hit and 2 RBI.

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

M ●Lucchesi-Akira Yagi-Shunsuke Nakamori-Fumiya Ono
H Taiga Kamichatani-○Gota Suzuki-Hernandez-Osuna-Yuki Matsumoto-S Kazuki Sugiyama

Text by Aoi Nishijima