Seibu Lions On the 7th, they lost 2–5 to the Softbank Hawks (Belluna Dome). lose. The CS Fuji TV ONE program “Pro baseball News 2026,” which aired on the 7th, highlighted Yudai Yamamoto’s at-bat in the top of the 4th inning.Starting pitcher Kona Takahashi threw five consecutive pitches of the same type to Yamamoto, and Yamamoto connected on the fifth pitch, giving the opposing team the lead. Regarding this play, the show’s host, Motonobu Tanishige, commented:“I think there are times when it’s okay to throw the same pitch repeatedly. hitter Psychologically, the batter might start thinking, ‘Isn’t the next one going to be inside?’… So I think he threw one more pitch, but since the last one was left up, the batter was able to make contact. If he had shown even one pitch fastball on the inside, the batter might have missed it even if the pitch was left up.” catcher He commented from a pitcher’s perspective.

Commentator Akihiko Oya said, "From pitcher perspective, if you keep attacking the outside corner like that, there must be pressure to throw the finishing pitch to an even better spot. As Tanishige said, it might have been better if he had thrown one pitch inside."

Commentator Masashi Saito said, "I also often threw breaking ball, curves, and slider, so I often threw the same pitch repeatedly. But there is always the worry that one day I might get hit, or that the pitch might become too easy to hit, so I think it would have been easier for pitcher if they had thrown a different pitch in between." Oya reflected, "Yamamoto was jammed by a sinker in his first at-bat... That might have also influenced the pitch selection."

☆ Cooperation: Fuji TV ONE "Professional baseball News 2026"