Taiki Narama of the Nippon Ham Fighters hits a walk-off single in the 10th inning against the SoftBank Hawks during a Pacific League baseball game at Es Con Field Hokkaido in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido, on Aug. 24, 2025. (Kyodo)
KITAHIROSHIMA, Hokkaido (Kyodo) — Taiki Narama hit a 10th-inning, bases-loaded single to give the Nippon Ham Fighters a 1-0 walk-off win Sunday against the first-place SoftBank Hawks and close within a half-game of them in the Pacific League pennant race.
The victory completed a three-game sweep for the home side at Es Con Field Hokkaido, with SoftBank dropping three straight for the first time since mid-July.
Nippon Ham ace Hiromi Ito struck out 11 over nine scoreless innings and opposing starter Livan Moinelo fanned six while blanking the Fighters through eight frames in a captivating pitching duel.
After being kept quiet throughout the regular innings, the Fighters jumped on right-hander Kazuki Sugiyama (3-3) in the 10th and loaded the bases on Kotaro Kiyomiya’s one-out single.
Narama, who entered the game in the ninth inning as a defensive replacement at third base, got behind 1-2 in the count before bouncing Sugiyama’s fastball through the gap between shortstop and second for the win.
AloJapan.com