◆Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026 Softbank Hawks 8-4 The Giants (28th, Tokyo Dome)

Softbank Hawks was a come-from-behind win to win the opening card of the Exchange Games. After the game, manager Hiroki Kokubo cited Masaki's defense at first base with no outs in the fourth inning as one of the reasons for the win. He made a dash to handle Masashi Tanaka's bunt, and then made a quick throw compensatory homer to third base to prevent a three-run deficit from being eroded by the extra run. Masaki's 3-5 (first base to third throw) play was huge. It was big when things seemed to be going south," said the coach, praising Masaki's contribution to the team's 11-game hit streak of No. 1 hitter defense

The previous day, despite getting three hit, he failed to advance to third base on a single by Kurihara with one out and a runner on first in the first inning. He was criticized for not going to third base, with his coach saying, "I can't forgive him for not going to third. I'll have the coach give him a stern talking-to tomorrow."