◆ Pacific League: Orix Buffaloes Rakuten Eagles (5th, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

Orix Buffaloes 's Espinoza earned his 10th win of the season, becoming the first foreign player for the team in 20 years to do so, tying him with Takashi Kato (Nippon-Ham) for the league lead. Despite allowing runner on base in every inning except the 5th, he pitched 7 innings, runs only one run. This marks his fourth consecutive win, a feat not achieved since Davey in 2006.

"It was a wonderful day." He overcame two Tommy John surgeries and came to Japan two years ago. Yoshinobu Yamamoto went to the Dodgers around the same time he arrived. He immediately watched videos of Yamamoto pitch. "I want to succeed here." He learned about Japan and grew to love it. It was Saiki, who is three years younger than him, who taught him about the hierarchical society of seniors and juniors. He learned polite language like "Osaki desu" (I'm leaving first) and recently he's been able to send LINE messages in hiragana.

On this day, he recorded his personal best speed of 156 km/h. On the victory platform, he declared to the fans, "I want to aim for the Sawamura Award." With passionate spirit, he said, "I'm fighting with the spirit of a Japanese person," and he brought the win, giving the team a one-game lead. His peak is still far ahead. (Toru Nagata)