◇ Saitama Seibu Lions vs Fukuoka Softbank 20th Round (9th, Belluna Dome)

Fukuoka Softbank Kensuke Kondo player hit his 24th solo home run to take the lead.

On this day, Kondo celebrated his 33rd birthday. This season, he mainly batted third, but with Ryoya Kurihara absent, he entered the starting line-up as the cleanup hitter. In the top of the second inning, as the leadoff hitter, he came to bat and moved the breaking ball to center fielder the outside field. The long-range ball flew into the left field stand next to the back screen.

He took the lead with a birthday home run to celebrate his own birthday. Since June, he has maintained a stable batting average, batting over .300, and RBI, who is competing with Kurihara, hit 83 with this single homer, extending the lead to 5 RBI.

◇ Comment from Player Kondo
"I was able to approach slider well. I'm glad we got into a good form with the home run to take the lead. Today is also the last game of the regular season Belluna Dome, so I'll do my best to deliver a good game. Of course, I want to celebrate my birthday with win."

Text by Minagi Niwa