Chusei Mannami of the Nippon Ham Fighters hits a grand slam in the fifth inning of a game against the Rakuten Eagles at Es Con Field Hokkaido in Kitahiroshima, near Sapporo, on May 10, 2025. (Kyodo)
KITAHIROSHIMA, Hiroshima (Kyodo) — Chusei Mannami hit a grand slam among two homers as the Nippon Ham Fighters rallied to beat the Rakuten Eagles 8-7 on Saturday.
Mannami’s grand slam to left field put the home team back on top 8-6 in the fifth inning at Es Con Field Hokkaido. He also homered with one runner on in the second and finished the game with six RBIs.
Rakuten pulled within a run in the sixth and loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but Nippon Ham closer Seigi Tanaka got out of the jam to earn his eighth save.
Takumi Yamamoto (1-0) won in relief. Tomotaka Matsui (1-2) took the loss.
Earlier in the game, Rakuten led 6-3 when Itsuki Murabayashi capped a six-run fourth with a grand slam.
In other action, Shoki Murakami (6-1) pitched his second consecutive complete-game shutout as the Hanshin Tigers beat the Chunichi Dragons 2-0.
Tyler Nevin hit a grand slam and Tatsuya Imai (4-1) struck out 10 in seven innings, leading the Seibu Lions to a 7-0 rout of the Lotte Marines.
AloJapan.com