◆ Pacific League: Nippon-Ham 6-7 Lotte (15th, ES CON FIELD)

In the tied ninth inning, Lotte's Yamaguchi hit a game-winning solo Home Run to left-center off Nippon-Ham's closer Yanagawa. His 30th Home Run, marking his second consecutive at-bat with a homer, reached a milestone not seen by a Japanese player on the team since Hiromitsu Ochiai recorded 50 Home Runs in 1986.

Standing on the hero's podium at the opponent's stadium, he expressed his joy, saying, 'It has been my dream since entering this world, so I am happy to have achieved it.' For his 29th home run, he caught a fastball and praised himself for the 'perfect' two-run shot to left field. For his 30th, he connected with a fastball from Yanagawa, a pitcher who he said had 'always gotten the better of me.'

There are 17 games remaining. In the Home Run title race, he sits in third place behind Kurihara of the Softbank Hawks with 37 and Reyes of Nippon-Ham with 32. He sounded reliable, saying, 'I'm glad I could achieve this early. If I can keep improving my form, I think I can aim for the home run title, so I want to aim for that.'

Record Note: Yamaguchi (Lotte) hit his 29th and 30th Home Runs of the season in the match against Nippon-Ham on the 15th (Es Con). He becomes the fourth Japanese player for Lotte to reach 30 Home Runs in a season (the 9th time overall), following Kaoru Betto (1950, 43 HRs), Kazuhiro Yamauchi (1960, 32 HRs; 1963, 33 HRs), and Hiromitsu Ochiai (1981, 33 HRs; 1982, 32 HRs; 1984, 33 HRs; 1985, 52 HRs; 1986, 50 HRs).