Yuma Tongu of the Orix Buffaloes reacts to his walk-off three-run home run against the Nippon Ham Fighters in a Pacific League baseball game at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Aug. 1, 2025. (Kyodo)
OSAKA (Kyodo) — Yuma Tongu hit a walk-off three-run homer to cap a four-run ninth inning and give the Orix Buffaloes a 4-2 victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters on Friday.
Tongu’s one-out “sayonara” blast to left, off Takayuki Kato (7-4), came after the Buffaloes started the bottom of the ninth with three straight singles to pull within a run at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Orix reliever Raiku Katayama (1-0) worked two scoreless innings after Anderson Espinoza struck out 10 in seven solid innings.
Nippon Ham starter Kato took a shutout into the ninth before Orix’s dramatic rally.
Among Friday’s other games, Kensuke Kondo homered in the opening frame to back a seven-inning start from Naoyuki Uwasawa (7-6) as the Pacific League-leading SoftBank Hawks beat the Rakuten Eagles 3-1.
AloJapan.com