Nippon Professional Baseball announced Tuesday that it will not grant the Orix Buffaloes' request to replay Friday's game against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks after umpires admitted mistakenly ruling a foul ball as a decisive two-run home run.
Orix had requested the game be restarted from the point when SoftBank batter Akira Nakamura's 10th-inning foul ball was called a two-run homer due to the possibility of the Hawks' victory having "a big influence on the overall league rankings."
The ball was ruled a foul on the field, but after a video replay requested by Hawks manager Kimiyasu Kudo, umpires decided it was a home run. After the game, however, the umpires spent 20 minutes reviewing the video again and admitted their error.
Kazuo Nakano, the Pacific League supervisor, said that "although we acknowledge the misjudgment, the ruling on the home run is final and games will continue according to baseball regulations."
NPB does not alter the results of completed games, with official rules stating that no challenges of umpire rulings are allowed.
With the game tied 3-3 with two outs in the top of the 10th, Nakamura had a 2-2 count with a runner on first when his deep foul off reliever Taisuke Kondo touched off the controversy.