◆ Pacific League: Lotte 0-3 Softbank Hawks (19th, ZOZO Marine Stadium)

Softbank Hawks started with Yugo Maeda and runs seven innings, earning their seventh win from the start of the season without a scratch. With an outstanding tempo, they didn't even let the Lotte lineup step on second base through the sixth inning. In the seventh inning, with a three-run lead, they put runners on second and third with one out, but retired Inoue and Tomosugi in consecutive struck out.

The 20-year-old left-handed pitcher, who joined the team from Osaka Toin High School as the first overall pick in the 2023 draft, was joined by Stanford University's Rintaro Sasaki, a graduate of Hanamaki Higashi High School who was known as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" during his high school days. On this day, he announced his intention to join the Marlins. Although he was unable to become teammates with the monstrous slugger who was the first overall pick in last fall's draft, he earned a victory that showed an impressive growth trajectory for himself.

This seven-game winning streak from the start of the season by a player in their first three years out of high school is the first in 11 years, since Shohei Ohtani (Nippon-Ham) in 2015, who was also in his third year out of high school. For the team, it is the first time in 61 years that a player has achieved this feat, since Toshihiko Hayashi, a left-handed pitcher in his third year out of high school, won 12 games in 1965 when he was still with the Nankai Hawks.

This was his first appearance at ZOZO Marine Stadium since August 5th of last season. He was knocked out in the middle of the 5th inning after giving up 5 runs, and it was the only game where he suffered a loss so far. This brilliant mound symbolizes his evolution in his third year as a professional. His alma mater, which was aiming for back-to-back spring and summer championships Koshien, suffered a surprising lose in the fourth round of the prefectural tournament, but his senior's stability remained unchanged.