Pacific League Softbank 5-2 Rakuten (2nd, Mizuho PayPay)
Softbank ‘s former Nippon-Ham players are performing well every day in the match against their former team. Arihara gave up two runs in the sixth inning, earning his ninth win and seventh in a row. He took over from Uesawa, who earned his seventh win on the 1st. Kondo was the core of the batting lineup. He reached Walk walks in all five of his at-bats, tying the Pacific League record of five Walk in a single game, and has now reached base in nine consecutive at-bats since hitting the game-winning two-run home run on the 1st.
His impressive lack of swinging the bat is what makes him so impressive. Kondo didn’t swing even once until his fourth at-bat, which included an intentional Walk in the sixth inning. The only times he swung were in the fifth at-bat with two outs in the eighth inning, when he fouled off the second and fourth pitches. “My condition is improving, so I think it’s the result of not reacting to balls,” said the third hitter, who has an on-base percentage of .420, calmly.
With three straight wins right after their nine-game winning streak came to an end, the team now has a lead of 22, the most of the season. They are now just one game behind second-place Nippon-Ham. “We want to play our own baseball without letting up at all,” said manager Kokubo. There are no blind spots in either the pitching or the batting. (Shimao Koichiro)
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・ [Softbank] Manager Kokubo punitively replaces rookie Shoji, who was caught in a pickoff attempt, saying, “I want him to learn the harshness and fear of the professional world.”
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AloJapan.com