Masahiro Tanaka
On October 7, the Hawks sent Sugiuchi to the mound in their regular-season game against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in the hopes of avoiding a last-place finish in the pennant race. He and young Eagles hurler Masahiro Tanaka both threw nine shutout innings, sending the game to extra-innings, but the Eagles won in twelve innings. The Hawks finished the season with the worst record in the league for the first time since 1996.