◆ Pacific League Softbank 1-5 Rakuten (16th, Mizuho PayPay)
After confirming that the ball had landed in the right field terrace seats, Rakuten 's Horiuchi raised his right hand and smiled. With two outs and a runner on first in the sixth inning, he smashed Arihara's first pitch and hit his first home run in his 10th year as a pro. "It's awesome. I hit it right on the center, so I was hoping it would go over," he said. It took a while, but he added, "I caught it with a good feeling. I hope I can continue to hit balls that go through the gaps (between fielder) without being conscious of it."
He joined the team as the 4th pick in the 2015 draft from Shizuoka High School. In his fourth year in 2019, he played in a career-high 65 games and had a period in which he was established in the first team, but after that he was unable to get playing time and by autumn he was prepared to be released from the team. He is 28 years old. This season, he had been playing in the second team since the training camp, but due to Yasuda's injury and Ota's poor performance, he was promoted to the first team on April 12th. He continues to make an impression with his bat, batting .317. "It's only been a little over a month. I'll just give it my all in every game." He has secured a regular position as catcher who can hit, and will lead pitcher in both batting and defense. (Ariyoshi Hiroki)
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