Nippon-Ham pitcher Haruki Hosono (24) expressed his determination to secure his third win of the season on the 17th. The left-hander, who will start against Orix Buffaloes on the 18th (Kyocera Dome), said, "No matter how good the metrics are, it's meaningless if we lose. I believe that winning is what matters for a starting pitcher. No matter how many pitches I throw, I want to pitch tenaciously like Kitayama-san and ERA 3.20 in 9 games. He aims to bring win to the team and make his presence felt.

In his previous start on the 4th against Rakuten Eagles (Rakuten Eagles Mobile's strongest), he gave up 3 runs in the middle of the 7th inning, suffering his 5th loss. Going back to mound after a 13-day break, he said, "If there's too much time between starts, my feel for the game resets, so I was a little worried about that. But I made sure not to throw too much, or rather, to keep the pitch count from getting too high." He reduced the number of pitches thrown during catch practice on flat ground to maintain his feel for pitching on the slope.

This will be his first appearance at Kyocera Dome in his third year as a professional. It will also be his first matchup against Orix Buffaloes this season. "I've heard it's similar to PayPay Dome, so that's the image I have in mind. From what Nakagawa has seen, the Orix Buffaloes lineup seems to be able to swing at the ball. That's just a quick glance, though. I'll take a closer look and think about it," he said enthusiastically.