◆ Pacific League: Softbank Hawks vs. Seibu Lions (August 1st, Mizuho PayPay)

Softbank Hawks pitcher Yugo Maeda left mound after seven scoreless runs, putting him in a position to pitcher win. If he secures the victory, he will have an undefeated 6-game winning streak since the start of the season.

He showed good pitch from the first inning, and delivered a perfect pitch in the first inning of the batting order, not allowing a single runner. In the fourth inning, with one out, he gave up the first hit to Takizawa, a single to left field, and after two hit, he faced a jam with runners on first and second with two outs, but he got out of the jam without closer up any runs. He also responded to the large nine-run support from his teammates and left mound after 7 innings and 98 pitches.

He was born in 2005, the same year as infielder Rintaro Sasaki (Stanford University), who was the first overall pick in last fall's draft. On this day, Sasaki was visiting Mizuho PayPay Dome for a meeting with the team. During his time at Osaka Toin High School, he was known as one of the "Big Four" high school players, alongside Softbank Hawks 's Kyoshiro Sakura (from Kyushu International University High School) and Osaka Commercial University's Kei Manabe (from Koryo High School). He also showed a good pitching performance in front of Sasaki.