◆ Pacific League Nippon-Ham 4-3 Rakuten Eagles (25th, ES CON FIELD)

On the 25th, Nippon-Ham showed resilience by catching up twice late in the Rakuten Eagles game (ESCON), earning his third walk-off win of the season. With consecutive wins, his savings reached 11. Ryohei Hosokawa infielder (24), who played starting line-up as the 7th batter and center fielder, reached base three times: 2 At Bat, 1 hit 2 Walk, and 2 runs in the late game. In the seventh inning, he delivered a base running as a runner from third base, hitting home sacrifice fly in the middle of Narama and showing a that manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo (54) highly praised for his performance.

Once he confirmed the ball had gotten through, Hosokawa sprinted lightly across home plate walk-off. In the top of the ninth, with the game tied, he led off by drawing a walk Walk, and after Tamiya’s sacrifice bunt, there was one out and a runner on second. He scored on Narama’s walk-off hit.With a line of 2 At Bat 1 hit 2 Walk—reaching base three times and driving in two runs—he nodded and said, “My only focus was getting on base. That’s all I was thinking about when I stepped into the batter’s box.”

He also made his presence felt with his speed. In the 7th inning, trailing by one run, he stepped up to the plate as doble and got on base with a double to center field. With one out and a runner on third, he took off on a fly ball to center field, almost exactly where he usually lands. When the strong-armed Tatsumi's throw to home plate went slightly off to the third base side, he curved slightly to avoid the tag and swatted the plate with his left hand. "I watched catcher 's movements and made a good decision," he said proudly.

He focuses intently on one thing and turns it into results. “I’m able to put into practice at the plate the principle of ‘not swinging at balls and hitting strike.’” On this day, he swung at only one ball. He takes notes after each at-bat and reflects on the game once it’s over.“I just take each at-bat seriously and do what I set out to do.” He has appeared in the starting line-up for three consecutive games, delivering results with hit and Walk in each of those games.

Manager Shinjo also highly praised him, saying, "If he continues at this pace, he has a chance to become a regular player. He's also putting in a really good effort in practice." Hosokawa said, "I think this is an opportunity for me, and everyone is working hard to win the championship, so I have no choice but to give it my all as well." There is one game remaining before the All-Star break. Both as a team and as an individual, they will be looking to finish the first half of the season in the best possible way. (Yasushi Yamaguchi)