◆ Pacific League: Seibu Lions vs. Lotte (20th, Saitama Prefectural Omiya Stadium)
Seibu Lions of Manaya Nishikawa outfielder showed good defense from the first inning.
In the first inning, Takabe hit the third pitch thrown by Sugai, sending a shallow fly ball to center field. Nishikawa reacted quickly and made a spectacular diving catch just above the ground. The crowd erupted in cheers at this unexpected great play.
Nishikawa also contributed to win in the game against Lotte on the 19th (Maebashi) by hitting his second home run of the season in the third inning when his team was trailing by one run. The team is in excellent form so far in May, with a record of 12 wins and 3 losses, and is currently leading the league with a seven-game lead.
![[Photo] Kasumi Mori throws the first pitch in a miniskirt! "She was incredibly cute."](https://hochi.news/images/2024/09/14/20240914-OHT1I51169-L.jpg)
![[Scoreboard] Seibu Lions vs. Lotte](/asset/img/news/source/logo_hochi.png){kind=logo}
![[Seibu Lions] Comes from behind to win against Lotte and successfully maintains first place. Manager Fumiya Nishiguchi: "I am truly happy that it was sold out."](https://hochi.news/images/2026/05/19/20260519-OHT1I51500-L.jpg)
![[Seibu Lions] Shinya Hasegawa hits a go-ahead two-run homer, his fifth of the season, approaching his six home runs from last season. He commented, "I feel like I'm able to properly compete with opposing pitcher."](https://hochi.news/images/2026/05/19/20260519-OHT1I51505-L.jpg)
![[Seibu Lions] Natsuki Takeuchi earns his third win of the season: "We were able to win by persevering and not giving up any runs. I'm really happy to have won in Gunma."](https://hochi.news/images/2026/05/19/20260519-OHT1I51546-L.jpg)
