◆Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026: DeNA Rakuten Eagles (June 4th, Yokohama)

Rakuten Eagles 's leadoff outfielder Naoki Sato, hit a home run as the first hitter in the first inning.

Facing DeNA's ace left-hander Higashi, he swung and missed at change-up on the first two pitches. However, after getting count to 2-2, he connected with the fifth pitch, change-up, sending it into the left-center field stands. This was his fifth home run of the season, his first since the game against Lotte on May 22nd (Rakuten Eagles Mobile's strongest), and his first leadoff home run in the first inning in his 16th game as the leadoff hitter this season. The new leadoff hitter, known for his powerful swing, laughed and said, "It was just luck. I'm glad we were able to score first."

With a sudden go-ahead home run, the team's winning streak rode even further. With the Hit by Pitch of the second batter Ryosuke Tatsumi outfielder and the hit of the third batter Ryuya Taira infielder to right field, the ball attacked first and third with no outs and runners on first and third, and the fourth batter Hideto Asamura infielder timely doble to left-center. He added more runs with RBI singles to center by sacrifice fly Fumiya Kurokawa infielder in the sixth batter and MacCascar outfielder in the seventh spot. From the first inning, hitter took the lead with a fierce attack of 10 batters.