Nippon Ham comes back from a 5-point deficit to win, marking Nakajima's retirement match

Nippon-Ham overturned a 5-point deficit and won. The match marked Nakajima's retirement after 18 years of playing for the team.

Starting pitcher Kitayama gave up five runs through the fifth inning. Tamiya quickly shook off the heavy atmosphere. In the fifth inning, Mizuno hit a double and Mizutani walked with no outs on first and second base. He pulled the first pitch, a sweet curveball, and arched it over the right field. ``It was a chance, so I was conscious of playing for the back.I'm glad it was the best result,'' he said happily.

Manami followed with a double, and Nakajima was at bat. He hit the ball to first base and turned it into an infield hit, causing excitement in the stadium. With two outs, Shibata got a timely hit and scored four points this inning. Riding the momentum, Mizutani's 2-run lead in the 6th inning turned the game around.

From the 7th inning onwards, the relievers of Fukushima, Hori, and Yanagawa lined up zeros. Coach Shinjo seemed satisfied, saying, ``Thanks to Taku (Nakajima), we won in a dramatic way.'' As 2nd place Seibu lost, the game difference was 0.5. We made strong progress toward hosting the CS First Stage at our home base.