◆Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026: Nippon-Ham 5-9 Chunichi (14th, ES CON FIELD)

On the 14th, Nippon-Ham lost a slugfest against Chunichi, ending their nine-game winning streak and dropping back to fourth place in the league. However, because league leaders Softbank Hawks lost in the interleague series, Nippon Ham maintained a 0.5-point lead over the leaders, keeping their chances of winning the interleague series alive, albeit with the help of other teams. infielder third-round draft pick Ruan Ohtsuka (22), who started at third base and batted sixth, hit his fourth home run of starting line-up in the sixth inning, a solo shot to right field that narrowed the deficit to one run. He has hit three home runs in his last five games, showing his growing presence on the field.

As the ball flew into the stands, Otsuka raised his right arm, clenched his fist, and swung it down. In the sixth inning, trailing by two runs, he stepped up to the plate as the leadoff batter and connected with a 145 km/h pitch from Chunichi 's starting pitcher, Wakui. It was his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot over the right field fence, his third in his last five games. He followed with another home run from Manami, tying the game temporarily, and he proudly stated, "I was able to swing through without tensing up, and it resulted in the best possible outcome."

Despite the better-than-expected results, he's not getting carried away. He's already hit four home runs, but says, "My strength is swinging hard, and that's been yielding better results than I expected. I'm using this as confidence, but I don't think I'm a home run hitter, so I want to work hard to get a hit when I have the chance." Manager Shinjo also praised him, saying, "He has a good presence when he's at bat, and he swings well," which has led to him getting more playing time.

He also unveiled a new, unique pose. In the fourth inning, after hitting a single to left field, he struck a pose mimicking slurping noodles with Kiyomiya Yuki in the dugout. He consulted with Kiyomiya Yuki, the team captain, and together they came up with the pose. "My family runs a soba noodle shop, and Kiyomiya-san would eat udon noodles." Kiyomiya Yuki's mother's family runs a soba noodle shop, and his father also runs a brown rice udon shop in F Village. He came up with the pose based on the noodle connection and dramatically showed it off in front of the dugout after hitting Home Run.

The team's winning streak came to an end at nine games. They dropped to fourth place in the league, but still have a chance to win the interleague series, albeit with the help of other teams. The final game is against Hiroshima on the 16th (at Mazda Stadium). "We have one game left in the interleague series, and of course we want to win that, but ultimately our goal is to win the league championship, so we want to focus on winning so that we can make that happen." With the momentum of a rookie, he hopes to give manager Shinjo his first title. (Yasushi Yamaguchi)