◆Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026: Nippon-Ham 3-1 Chunichi (June 12, ES CON FIELD)

Nippon-Ham ・Hosono removed the limiter. In the 4th inning, with two outs and a runner on second, he threw three pitches that he missed by Hosokawa at the fastest speed of the day, struck out. "I was thinking of becoming a Super Saiyan when I was in trouble," he said, hitting three consecutive struck out with no outs and a runner on second. During round 7, 6 hit 1 runs 11 strike out. Seeing his second win since the March 31 game against Lotte (ESCON), where he achieved a no-no, he laughed and said, "I might be happier than when I no hitter."

Even when he pitched well, he wasn't getting the win, and "there were times when I was pretty down." The turning point was his time in the minor leagues. His data and metrics weren't bad. "Instead of getting carried away by whether you lose or not, just do what you have to do." These words from pitcher coordinator Kaneko freed him from the obsession with "wanting to win."

His pitcher is The Giants pitcher coach Suguchi. He even conducted a "direct interview" with him during the preseason games and asked him about his approach to difficult situations. "I imagined him saying, 'I have an engine for when I'm in a pinch,' and I tried to incorporate that into this game," he said, explaining how it paid off.

The team achieved its first eight-game winning streak in 10 years, since their 15-game winning streak in 2016 when they won the national championship. Their lead in the standings also reached a record high of six games. Manager Shinjo, pleased with the team's longest winning streak to date, said, "I'm sure the players will do it again tomorrow!" They are also only 0.5 games behind the leader in the interleague championship race. They aim to keep winning until the end and climb all the way to the title. (Yasushi Yamaguchi)