◆ Pacific League Softbank Hawks 8-5 Orix Buffaloes (24th, Mizuho PayPay Stadium)

Softbank Hawks Masaki created a path for win with his ultra-fast shot. In the first inning, he drove a cutter from one ball and hit a personal best solo homer to left field, his eighth homer. This was his second time finishing hitter Home Run the lead since the Yakult race on June 12 (Mizuho PayPay). "I went for a long hit with a favorable count," he proudly said with a perfect shot.

According to "NPB+", his batted ball speed was 188 km/h, the fastest among the 12 teams this season. It even surpasses the Dodgers' Ohtani's fastest hit of the season at 114.6 mph (approximately 184.4 km/h). Since suffering a subluxation of his left shoulder last April, he has been consciously working on improving his batted ball speed, noting that "good hitter have fast batted ball speeds." This home run proved the results of his efforts, and even Kurihara, who leads the league in both Home Run (20) and RBI (54), was astonished, saying, "It was 188 km/h! That's incredible!"

Since the game Rakuten Eagles on May 16th (Rakuten Eagles Mobile), he has been used as the leadoff hitter for 30 consecutive games. During that time, he has gone hit in 7 games, but only failed to get on base in 1 game. "I'm the first one to face pitcher, so it would be great if I could get a hit that can inflict damage there," he said, fulfilling the role he desires as the leadoff hitter.

He has surpassed his personal goal of hitting seven Home Run in 2024. "It would be great if I could hit 20," he said, revising his target upwards. The team ended their four-game losing streak against Orix Buffaloes, closing the gap to 2.5 games behind league leaders Seibu Lions. "Home Run aren't something you can aim for, so I won't get greedy," he said humbly, adding one home run at a time to further boost the team's momentum. (Tosei Moriguchi)