◆ Seibu Lions vs. Nippon Sport Science University (20th, Carminique)

Seibu Lions Watanabe, outfielder for Seiya Watanabe Lions who had been sidelined due to a fracture of the left orbital floor, made his return to competitive play on the 20th in a third-team game against Nippon Sport Science University.

He started as the cleanup hitter and designated DH. He entered the plate without a face guard or anything like a face guard; in his first at-bat, he grounded out to shortstop with a double play single, and in his second and third at-bats, he swung and missed struck out.

Watanabe made a successful return to competitive play 11 days after his injury, wiping away sweat and saying, "It felt refreshing. It hadn't been that long since I last played, but it felt like quite a while. I'd been hitting against machines, so I wasn't scared at all, but there was a bit of a difference when it came to playing against live balls in a real game." As for his fractured left cheek, he's waiting for the bone to heal naturally, but his eyesight remains "as good as ever."

Although the team is in second place, several fielder, including Hasegawa, Kuwahara, An-Ko Lin, and Takizawa, have been sidelined. On this day, Ishii was also removed from the active roster due to illness. Watanabe's return is essential for the team to win the championship for the first time since 2019 and advance to the Climax Series. "To play in the first team, I need to improve my batting. When I got injured, my batting wasn't that great and was declining, so I hope to use this as an opportunity to improve my batting and come back stronger," he said, looking ahead to rejoining the first team as soon as possible and working to get in shape.

Watanabe started as the "number 7 batter and third baseman" in the game against Softbank Hawks on the 9th (Belluna Dome). In the third inning with no outs and a runner on first base, trailing by one run, he was hit below the left eye by a hard-hit ball that took an irregular bounce by Masaki, and was unable to stand up, so he was substituted out of the game.