Pacific League: Nippon-Ham 9-7 Lotte (29th, ES CON FIELD)

Lotte outfielder Koki Yamaguchi once again demonstrated his peak form. Leading off the fifth inning while trailing by two runs, he launched a 'no-doubt' 27th solo home run over the left-field fence on a third-pitch fork from left-hander Uehara, who had just taken the mound. This marked his second four-game home run streak of the season, the first time a player from the club has achieved this since Hiromitsu Ochiai in 1985. 'I swung and it hit. Honestly, that's what the at-bat felt like,' he said happily. His previous single-season high was 16 home runs in 2022. Although the team lost, resulting in a three-game losing streak, the promising slugger is enjoying a productive season, significantly surpassing his career high in his eighth professional year.

◆Record Notes◆ Yamaguchi (Lotte) Home Run in four consecutive games since the game against Softbank Hawks on the 26th. He also hit Home Run in four consecutive games from May 20th to 24th, making this his second time this season Home Run in four or more consecutive games. While it is rare for a player to hit home runs in four or more consecutive games multiple times in a season, Sadaharu Oh (Giants) in 1967 did it three times with four games, and Randy Bass (Hanshin) in 1985 did it once with five games and twice with four games, hitting home runs twice is the first time since Dae-ho Lee (SoftBank) in 2015, who hit home runs in four consecutive games twice. He is only the second player in the team's history to do so, the first being Hiromitsu Ochiai in 1985, who recorded four consecutive home runs twice.