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

Softbank Hawks 's Yuta Maeda pitched a complete game without changing his expression. With a nine-run lead in the seventh inning, two outs, and runners on first and second base, he retired Kish with a foul fly to the catcher before leaving the game. He earned his sixth win of the season with seven runs innings. His six consecutive wins to start the season, achieved within three years of graduating from high school, is the first since Shohei Ohtani (now with the Dodgers) of Nippon-Ham in 2015. "I was able to pitch with the feeling that I was facing each hitter individually," he nodded.

On this day, Sasaki, who was the same age as him and was selected by the team as their first overall pick in last fall's draft, was in the audience. In high school, he was known as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings of High School Baseball" along with Manabe of Koryo High School (now at Osaka Commercial University) and Sakura of Kyushu International University High School (now Softbank Hawks). They exchanged greetings before the game, and he said he was surprised by Sasaki's size, saying, "He was as powerful as a sumo wrestler." He added, "I wish we could have talked at length... I hope we can meet again next time," looking forward to seeing him again.

He has established himself as a key part of the starting rotation, but he was full of self-criticism, saying, "Today, I felt like I had a lot to improve." It seems his growth is far from over. (Tosei Moriguchi)