◆パ・リーグ　オリックス１―５日本ハム（１９日・京セラドーム大阪）

Nippon-Ham secured a decisive victory against Orix Buffaloes, increasing their lead in the standings to 11 games. This marks their seventh consecutive win against Orix Buffaloes, their first such streak in seven years since 2019, bringing their overall record against Orix to 12 wins and 5 losses.

Starting pitcher Yamazaki threw 67 pitches over five innings, pitching 3 hit and 1 runs to earn his third win. From the sixth inning onward, he maintained the lead by connecting with Uehara, Tanaka, Hori, and Yanagawa. Manager Shinjo explained to the early relievers, "(Yamazaki) probably wanted to pitch, but there are pitcher who want him to pitch." He further revealed, "(Yamazaki) should have the batter stand up. I was thinking of putting him up at plate today, but pitching is a bit better. He said he might use the seventh batter pitcher, but I thought about it today, but I decided not to," revealing that there was also a possibility of using Yamazaki, who is good at hitting, as a two-way player.