◆ Pacific League Nippon-Ham 1-7 Softbank Hawks (18th, ES CON FIELD)

Softbank Hawks dominated third place and Nippon-Ham in pitching and batting, bringing their winning magic to 27 at that point. In the third inning, Kensuke Kondo outfielder scored two runs to go-ahead doble, earning four runs in one go. In the sixth inning, Masaki hit his 20th solo homer, steadily adding runs in the middle innings. Moinelo, in his second game back, posted a steady pitch of 1 runs in the sixth inning, marking two wins in two games.

Kondo extended his league-leading RBI RBI to 89, surpassing his career high of 87 from 2023. In the sixth inning with one out, he hit his hit hit of the season, a single to center field, raising his batting average to .313. He is now close to the league leader, Reyes of Nippon-Ham, who has a batting average of .318.

Motoaki Watanabe, who coached him at his alma mater, Yokohama High School, passed away on the 17th. Before the game, he expressed his gratitude, saying, "He was a coach who helped me grow not only technically but also as a person, and he was the one who got me in through the general entrance exam. I am where I am today because of my three years at Yokohama High School," and his performance was a tribute to his mentor.