◆ Pacific League Orix Buffaloes 3x-2 Softbank Hawks (8th, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

Orix Buffaloes ・Mune put his joy at the outstanding achievement into words: “It’s been way too long, so it felt great.”With the game tied extra inning in the 10th inning, with one out and runners on first and second, he hit a line drive down the right-field line off closer Sugiyama walk-off doble. It was his sixth game-winning hit since 1924. In the fourth inning, with his team trailing by one run, he hit his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot over the right-field fence off Yu Maeda. He also contributed to the team’s walk-off 5-0 start—their first since 1921.

In his 12th professional season, he has made taking notes during practice a habit. He has two notebooks, one for baseball and one for everything else, and he puts pen to paper whenever he has a spare moment. "It's not something I can really tell people about (laughs), but I write down all sorts of everyday things and look back at them whenever I have time," he says, emphasizing that it helps him organize his thoughts. "To find out what I could have done better," he says, he always checks his at-bats after games, and his strong desire for improvement drives his growth every day.

In the eighth inning, trailing by one run, Kurebayashi hit a game-tying solo home run, his 11th of the season, a personal best. The team responded to the strong pitching of starter Kuri, who allowed only two runs in seven innings with 111 pitches, with a collective effort from the entire baseball. With Seymour being sent back to the farm team for further adjustment after 41 consecutive at-bats without hit, the team snapped a three-game losing streak against league leaders Softbank Hawks and climbed back up to fourth place. Mune, the photogenic player who is on an upward trend with five consecutive games with hit, proudly declared, "Orix Buffaloes is about everyone covering for each other." (Shunta Nanbu)