☆ Nippon-Ham vs. Softbank Hawks (14:00, ES CON FIELD) Nippon-Ham: Hosono, Softbank Hawks: Uwasawa

Softbank Hawks 's Masaki reached his 20th home run of the season in the game against Nippon-Ham on the 18th. He has hit 20 home runs in 70 games, which translates to a pace of 40 Home Run over a 143-game season.

His first home run of the year came in the team's 38th game since the season began. He was batting order sixth in the game Rakuten Eagles on May 15th, where he was a starting player. After that, he hit 19 consecutive home runs batting first. If he adds one more home run batting first, that will bring his total to 20 from that batting order alone.

Including the predecessor team, the only time a Softbank Hawks batter batting hitter has hit 20 Home Run or more is the only time in 1992 during his Daiei era, when Makoto Sasaki hit 20 home runs in 1992. With Masaki batting leadoff, he might become the second player on the team to hit 20 home runs in 34 years.

(Other cards)

☆DeNA vs. The Giants (17:45, Yokohama) DeNA = Higashi, The Giants = Inoue

☆ Hanshin Tigers vs. Yakult (18:00, Kyocera Dome Osaka) Hanshin Tigers: Masaru Ito, Yakult: Yamano

☆Hiroshima vs. Chunichi (18:00, Mazda Stadium) Hiroshima: Suzuki, Chunichi: Sakurai

☆ Rakuten Eagles vs. Lotte (18:00, Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi) Rakuten Eagles: Kishi, Lotte: Long

☆ Seibu Lions vs. Orix Buffaloes (18:00, Belluna Dome) Seibu Lions: Watanabe, Orix Buffaloes: Jerry

※ Match card (start time, stadium) and starting pitcher order