Masashi Saito, who appeared on "Pro baseball News 2026" broadcast on Fuji TV ONE on the 11th, commented on Nippon-Ham Hiromi Ito.

Ito, who started the game, put the Softbank Hawks batting line to 1 runs until the 5th inning, but in the 6th inning with a score of 1-1, he gave Walk to the leading Hotaka Yamakawa, and Kenta Imamiya was carried to the right by Hit by Pitch and Ukyo Shuto in front of the right, leading to a no-out bases loaded pinch. Takashi Umino finished off with struck out, but the following Taisei Makihara hit a timely hit to win, Tatsuru Yanagimachi sacrifice fly, and Kensuke Kondo hit 3 runs, and Hiromi Ito left the game in the middle of the 6th inning with 6 runs.

Saito reflected, "He was in the third round, and I think he had been careful with his pitches up until then. I felt like he was at his limit, but the connection didn't break at all, and in the third round, everyone got used to him and started to get a bit lax, and that's when he got caught. I think even Ito couldn't hold on."

Hiromi Ito is one of Japan's leading pitcher, having won the Sawamura Award last season, but this season he has not been very impressive, having pitched 17 1/3 innings in 3 games so far, with a record of 1 win and 1 loss and ERA of 5.71.

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