◆ Pacific League Nippon-Ham 8-7 Softbank Hawks (19th, ES CON FIELD)

When he hit the 157 km/h pitch, Nippon-Ham Fighters infielder Kotaro Kiyomiya (27) prayed. When the ball stubbornly broke through the gap between first and second base, everyone jumped out of the dugout. It was the bottom of the 10th inning, one out, runner on third, with the score tied. He hit a extra inning single to right walk-off and said, "We haven't had many games like this this year, so this will give us something to look forward to tomorrow." He erupted in joy at the dramatic victory, having come back from a six-run deficit.

It was Imagawa, who had just been promoted on the 14th, who changed the momentum of the game. In the 5th inning, trailing by 6 runs, with one out and runners on first and third, he came up to bat as a pinch hitter and smashed Softbank Hawks 's Uwasawa's two-seam two seam fastball into the left field foul pole. His second home run of the season, a three-run shot, completely changed the atmosphere in the otherwise silent stands. "I'm performing well in a good, high-pressure environment," he said proudly.

In the seventh inning, Imagawa hit a single to center hit to load the bases with one bases loaded, and Mizuno followed with a bases loaded slam to right walk-off field, his 11th of the season, to give his team the lead temporarily. His first grand slam was also the 500th in Escon's history, and he said, "I thought home run was important to change the momentum." Kiyomiya Yuki, who hit the base running mistake, I thought he would come through."

This season, they have a dismal record against SoftBank, with 4 wins and 15 losses. Even after a come-from-behind victory, the manager said, "I'm not happy at all. I don't think of it as Softbank Hawks. It's one game at a time, one pitch at a time. We just have to concentrate and win." Last offseason, he encouraged his players by saying they would "win the championship by a landslide," but now that they are in third place, he says, "That statement may have backfired." They are 7.5 games behind the leader. If they want to pull off a miracle, they have to keep winning the remaining 30 games. (Yasushi Yamaguchi)