◆ Pacific League: Nippon-Ham 2-1 Softbank Hawks (1st, ES CON FIELD)

Nippon-Ham won a close game, marking their third five-game winning streak of the season. In the game against the first-place Softbank Hawks, with the score tied 1-1 in the eighth inning and two outs with a runner on third, substitute Castro hit a game-winning RBI single to center, resulting in a 2-1 win. This brought their record to a season-high 15 games over .500.

After the game, Manager Shinjo mentioned the scene where Castro, who had replaced Yoshida in right field from the seventh-inning defense, hit the game-winning shot, saying, 'This isn't hindsight; while watching Moinelo's pitch today, I told Coach Yokoo, "Watch, Kacchan (Castro) is going to hit today," it just sort of came to me. Yoshida was also very close and was batting well, but I just thought, no, Kacchan is going to hit—it's been a while since I've had a flash like that.' The managerial intuition he felt during the game hit the mark perfectly.

Imagawa, the 'Moinelo Killer,' was selected as the fourth batter and hit a game-tying home run. 'I guess there really is such a thing as compatibility. It's partly due to Imagawa-kun's skill, but the pitches just seem to come right into his sweet spot. He looks so relaxed, doesn't he? I could sense his composure in the batter's box,' he said, full of high praise.