Overview

• SoftBank beat Orix 7–1 on Sept. 3, breaking it open with a five-run second inning featuring Kenta Imamiya’s opener and Tatsuya Yanagimachi’s two-run single.
• Tomohisa Ozeki delivered six innings of one-run ball for his 12th win after recalibrating from a rough prior start, striking out Taishi Hirooka in a bases-loaded moment by challenging with fastballs.
• A night earlier, the Hawks edged Orix 2–1 as Akira Nakamura’s pinch-hit game-tying single set up Imamiya’s eighth-inning go-ahead knock.
• Nakamura continued to impact Sept. 3 with a double, a triple and alert baserunning to score on a foul pop, underscoring the bench-to-starter depth fueling SoftBank’s push.
• In the 96th National Corporate Baseball Tournament on Sept. 3, Mitsubishi Motors Okazaki topped JR East Tohoku 3–1 behind Sho Akiyama’s 109-pitch complete game with eight strikeouts and no walks; Saginomiya blanked Nippon Steel Setouchi 4–0 on a Ko Nomura home run and Kosuke Monma’s strong start, while NTT West edged JR East 5–4 to book its quarterfinal spot.