◆ Pacific League Rakuten Eagles Rakuten vs. Lotte (19th, Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park)
Rakuten Eagles catcher Kengo Horiuchi (29) started starting line-up as the "number 8 hitter and catcher." In his first at-bat in the second inning with two outs and a runner on second base, he hit a go-ahead two-run homer to the right field foul pole off Lotte's starting left-handed pitcher Long.
With his first home run since the game Orix Buffaloes on August 6th last year, he gave support to starting pitcher Kish. "I don't know what kind of pitch it was. I'm just glad I was able to hit it. A miracle happened," he said with a smile as he reflected on his go-ahead home run.
![[Video] In an unbelievable turn of events, Nippon-Ham 's Mizuno hits a game-winning bases loaded slam that lands deep in the stadium, bringing fans to tears.](https://hochi.news/images/2026/08/19/20260819-OHT1I51331-C.jpg)
![[Scoreboard] Rakuten Eagles vs. Lotte](https://hochi.news/assets/v2/img/hochi_news_sns.png)
![[Rakuten Eagles] Kosei Shoji earns a career-high 6th win, and Itsuki Murabayashi hits the game-winning 2-run single in the 3rd inning.](https://hochi.news/images/2026/08/18/20260818-OHT1I51521-L.jpg)
![[Rakuten Eagles] Yoshiaki Watanabe's most memorable lesson from his grandfather, Motoaki, was "Become win in life." The legendary manager of Yokohama High School passed away suddenly on the 17th.](https://hochi.news/images/2026/08/18/20260818-OHT1I51205-L.jpg)
![[Rakuten Eagles] Yoshiaki Watanabe reveals his feelings for his grandfather, former Yokohama High School manager Motoaki: "I wonder if I was able to do a little bit of filial piety for him." His grandfather passed away suddenly on the 17th. "I wanted him to baseball for as long as possible."](https://hochi.news/images/2026/08/18/20260818-OHT1I51172-L.jpg)
![[Left hamstring injury] Today's Pacific League [August 18th]](https://media.insight.pacificleague.com/webp/YJ0B6R9jK7TMabiTut9ABPowKp1UIcQsTER6qZAD.webp)
