◆ Pacific League Rakuten Eagles Orix Buffaloes (14th, Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi)

Rakuten Eagles 's pitcher Ryota Takinaka earned his fifth win of the season, giving up 6 hit, 1 Walk, and 1 runs through 7 innings.

He started with a fast-paced pitch. In the sixth inning with a two-run lead, he gave up a solo home run to Nakagawa, but calmly declined the runners. He left the mound in the seventh inning with two outs and runners on first and second. He used a variety of breaking ball to score six struck out. "I think it was good that we got ahead of strike," he said, wiping his sweat.

He broadened pitch. "I tried various things, like throwing new breaking ball on the fly. splitter, sinker, and a big slider. I added these three new pitches and threw them. They worked nicely, so I think it gave me a bit of confidence." He gained an advantage by increasing his repertoire of pitches.

What came to mind was the veteran pitch. It was Wakui, the Chunichi who did his off-season training together. The right-hand pitcher I respect had his first win of the season on the 11th. He had secured his 22nd consecutive win. Watching that pitch through the screen made him realize it again. "Watching Wakui-san's pitching was a very educational aspect. After all, I use the slider and sinker beautifully while throwing fastballs. When the left-handed Avg is high, I thought it might be worth throwing the sinker again to see if it was a dropped pitch or a curved pitch." He drew inspiration from the legendary right-hander's skilled pitch techniques and delivered strong pitches.

He has been consistently pitch well so far this season. However, he is not satisfied. "I often create difficult situations and then hand them over to reliever pitchers, so unless I can somehow complete inning, there will be no next pitcher. That is my challenge," he said, setting his sights on reaching even greater heights.