◆Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026 Orix Buffaloes 4-2 Yakult (11th, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

Orix Buffaloes 's Wakatsuki smiled shyly. "I'm grateful to Satozaki-san." His opponent was underhand pitcher Shimokawa. As a fellow catcher, he got hints on how to deal with him from the YouTube channel of his senior, who had made a name for himself at Lotte.

"He said, 'I'm going to focus on the inside low pitch and go for it.' And I put that into practice." In the fifth inning, with one out and the bases loaded loaded and both teams scoreless, his image and swing matched perfectly, and he drove a low two-seam two seam fastball to right field. It was the go-ahead hit that led to their fifth three-game sweep against the same opponent this season. The "fearless number nine" who had the best batting average of .361 among all batting order last year has returned.

Making his debut in the WBC in March, he felt the immense pressure of representing his country. Before the tournament began, he gazed at the palm of his left hand. "It brings back memories..." He reunited with Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Dodgers), with whom he had formed a battery many times, at an international tournament. He remembered how catching Yamamoto's superb pitches would always result in a "Yoshinobu blister."

Before the game that day, an awards ceremony was held to commend the player for his 1000th career game appearance. Although their other ace, Tomoya Mori, is currently sidelined, he expressed his determination to hold down the fort, saying, "I'm confident in my physical strength." They suffered three straight losses against The Giants, who are also based in Tokyo, but won three straight against Yakult. The Orix Buffaloes have a strong pillar of support. (Toru Nagata)