Nippon-Ham Ham Fighters manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo: "They put together a good lineup." batting order devised by substitute coach leads walk-off win | Pacific League

Nippon-Ham Ham Fighters manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo: “They put together a good batting lineup” – substitute coach’s batting batting order to walk-off win

Sports Hochi

2025.9.21(日) 06:00

９回２死二塁、サヨナラ打を放った浅間を迎える新庄監督（カメラ・池内　雅彦）

Pacific League Nippon-Ham 8x-7 Lotte (20th, Escon F)

Manager Takeshi Shinjo (53) and his Nippon-Ham team, led by his 10th walk-off win of the season, waited for the victory of Softbank. 7-7 in the ninth inning, with two outs, Hiroki Asama outfielder (29) hit walk-off a timely doble to left-center field for a dramatic victory. The team’s first-place finish was a 3.5 game lead over the defeated Softbank team, and they were on the verge of a miraculous comeback.

He jumped out of the bench and raised his right fist. Manager Shinjo exploded with joy, pumping his fist in such excitement that the sunglasses on top of his hat fell off. This was the team’s 10th dramatic win of the season. “Well, we had no choice but to win. I’m glad we won,” he said, savoring win in unusually simple words.

batting order for the day was devised by Yokoo, the second-team batting coach, who was on the bench in place of Yagi, who was out after being hit in the head by a broken bat. The “heavy hitting lineup” with Mannami batting first and Reyes batting second led to a fierce attack with 16 hit 8 runs, and Yokoo praised them, saying, “It felt like we wanted to connect and score runs. They put together a great lineup.” Yokoo, who was suddenly given the lineup chart when he entered the stadium, explained his intention for batting order order, saying, “If More (Reyes) was batting second, he’d have no choice but to compete with Mannami,” and smiled, saying, “I was able to put together batting order befitting a batting coach.”

Although they won, they cannot be completely happy. They made four errors, the most of the season. In the seventh inning, consecutive errors by the infielders at second base and infielder tied the game. Against the bottom-placed team, mistakes led to their lead, which at one point was five runs, being caught up. In the next attack, they created a good opportunity with a runner on third base and no outs, but ended up with no runs. The manager reflected, “No matter how many runs you’re ahead, it’s still scary. It was a game we couldn’t let our guard down in.”

During the game, he learned of Softbank ‘s lose on the stadium’s electronic scoreboard. He had finally achieved the victory he had desperately wanted. “I wanted to win. I wanted to keep winning and see how the other team would react.” He went on to win all nine games remaining, and the Shinjo-Ham Fighters pulled off a miracle. (Haruki Kawakami)