◆ Pacific League: Rakuten Eagles vs. Softbank Hawks (August 2nd, Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi)
Rakuten Eagles Ryuya Taira, , hit a solo home run—his ninth of the season—to give his team the early lead. infielder
In the third inning, with both teams scoreless, Taira led off by hitting a low fastball from Maeda down the middle to left-center field. It was his first home run in two months, since June 2nd. He hit a perfect shot off the left-handed pitcher who has been in great form this season with an 8-0 record. For the team, it was their first home run of the second half of the season.
![[Video] Cutely manipulative - Ami Nakai's first pitch](https://hochi.news/images/2026/06/21/20260621-OHT1I51553-C.jpg)
![[Scoreboard] Rakuten Eagles vs. Softbank Hawks](https://hochi.news/assets/v2/img/hochi_news_sns.png)
![[Rakuten Eagles] Major starting line-up changes to prevent a fourth consecutive loss: Hideto Asamura, Rui Muneyama and others to start on the bench; Tatsuya Ryuya Taira to play left field; Tatsuki Koja to start, aiming for his second win.](https://hochi.news/images/2026/08/02/20260802-OHT1I51273-L.jpg)
![[Rakuten Eagles] Aiming for win on Sunday, their "jinxed" day after an 8-game losing streak. They haven't won a Sunday since May 24th. Can they overcome undefeated left-handed pitcher Yuya Maeda? They are tied for their worst deficit of the season at 19 games.](https://hochi.news/images/2026/08/02/20260802-OHT1I51224-L.jpg)
![[Rakuten Eagles] Kenta Maeda to make a tune-up appearance in a minor league game; manager Masato Yoshii says "we'll skip one inning"; pitching date changed due to rainout on July 31st... Maeda is on the verge of his 100th career win in NPB.](https://hochi.news/images/2026/08/01/20260801-OHT1I51552-L.jpg)
