◆ Rookie battery secures the win! Takagi: "When you use them up like this..."

On the 8th, Seibu Lions win Softbank Hawks 2-1. Starting pitcher Kona Takahashi pitched brilliantly, allowing only two hit and no runs over eight innings. In the ninth inning, second-round draft pick, left-handed Hakua Iwaki, took mound. He walked a batter and gave up a hit, putting runners on Walk and third with no hit, and gave up one run on a timely hit by Ryoya Kurihara, but he retired Yuki Yanagita, Hotaka Yamakawa, and Akira Nakamura to earn his third save of the season.

Seibu Lions managed to hold on for the win with their rookie battery of first-round draft catcher Taiga Kojima. On the Fuji TV ONE program "Pro baseball News 2026" broadcast on the 8th, MC Yutaka Takagi commented on the manager's decision, saying, "It was a situation where it was uncertain whether the first and second round draft pick rookies would jeopardize Takahashi's win. Manager Nishiguchi did a great job using them all." Commentator Toshiaki Imae analyzed, "I think this is something that only a manager who was pitcher himself could do. As fielder, I tend to worry and want to use an experienced pitcher, but I thought Manager Nishiguchi's courage was amazing."

Furthermore, Takagi commented, "When you use them up like this, these two will grow as well," to which the other commentator, Sakaguchi Tomotaka, added, "It will give them confidence. I think they'll be able to finish the next game calmly after this." Takagi exclaimed, "Nishiguchi the manager really has guts."

☆ Cooperation: Fuji TV ONE "Professional baseball News 2026"