◆ Pacific League 8-1 Softbank Hawks (April 4th, Mizuho PayPay Stadium)

Lotte dominated Softbank Hawks both offensively and defensively, overtaking Orix Buffaloes to move up to fourth place. In the first inning, outfielder Kyota Fujiwara (26) led off with a solo home run to right-center field, his third of the season, to mark the start of the game. In the second inning, 11 hitter came to the plate and scored seven runs in a single outing, knocking out Softbank Hawks 's 2025 developmental draft pick 8th round right-handed Hokuto, a former Chuo University semi-hardball player, who was making his professional debut as a starter.

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New foreign left-handed pitcher Long started the game and pitched his longest outing since arriving in Japan, going seven innings and giving up only six hit and no runs to earn his first win. Although he allowed runner on base in every inning, he used his powerful fastball, which reached a top speed of 153 km/h, and his mix of speeds to get out of jams when necessary.

"I wanted to give the team its first win as soon as possible. I'm truly happy that we were able to achieve this victory."

The left-handed pitcher, who has appeared in 162 MLB games, welcomed his first child, a son, on March 7th. "My wife just called to congratulate me. Actually, my son fell asleep during the game. I'm hoping he'll stay awake the whole time next time," he said with a smile.

He chuckled and said, "I didn't get the winning ball... I'm sure someone else has it," but responded to the congratulations from the press with "Thank you very much!"