■Professional baseball: DeNA 10-4 Hanshin (3rd, Yokohama Stadium)

DeNA came from behind to beat Hanshin, ending their nine-game losing streak. With the score tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning, with two outs and runners on first and second, No. 3 Keita Sano (29) hit a timely single to take the lead. After that, No. 8 Takuma Hayashi (23) used a safety squeeze to give DeNA a six-run lead, and the relief corps held the lead through the middle of the game.

In the previous day’s game, the team took the lead with a sacrifice fly by Hayashi, but in the middle of the 6th inning, they allowed the other team to take the lead and their lead was widened. In the final 8th inning, Toshiro Miyazaki (35) hit a timely hit to make the score 2 points behind, but they were unable to break down the Hanshin pitchers, and suffered their 9th consecutive loss. The starting pitcher for this game, Mitsuki Yoshino (26), was pitching for the second time this season. In his last appearance on the mound against the Giants (Tokyo Dome) on July 13, he gave up 2 runs in 5 innings and was the losing pitcher.

Yoshino started off by allowing leadoff hitter Mitsuji Chikamoto (29) to hit a right-handed hit and reach base, then 2nd batter Takumu Nakano (28) bunted, putting the runner in scoring position. Next, 3rd batter Shota Morishita (23) hit a two-run home run into the left field stands, giving Yoshino the lead. Then, 4th batter Teruaki Sato (25) hit a solo home run into the right field stands, giving Yoshino the third run.

The batting line, now trailing by three points, got on base with a left-handed hit by Takaki Kajiwara (24) against Hanshin’s starting pitcher Kotaro Otake (29). No. 2 Hideto Maki (26) stole second base and was on second base with no outs, and Maki walked, widening the chance. No. 3 Sano hit a fly ball to second base, but No. 4 Austin (32) caught the first pitch from Otake, a curveball, and hit it into the left-center field stands. They quickly tied the game.

Yoshino had runners in scoring position, but kept the score at zero from the second inning onwards. In the bottom of the fourth inning, No. 5 Miyazaki, who was the first batter of the inning, was hit by a pitch and reached base. With two outs, No. 8 Hayashi hit a single to left field to keep the game going. However, the next pinch hitter, Yamato (36), hit a fly ball to first base and was unable to score.

In the top of the fifth inning, Wick (31), the second pitcher, took to the mound, but the second batter Nakano hit a double to left field, putting the runner on base, and the third batter Morishita hit a fly ball to right field, advancing the runner to third base with one out. The next hit by the fourth batter Sato was a timely hit to center field, allowing the team to take the lead.

With the team trailing by one point in the bottom of the sixth inning, Austin, who was leading off the innings, hit a solo home run into the upper section of the left field stands, tying the game again.

In the final innings, third pitcher Yasuaki Yamazaki (31) took to the mound and retired all three batters in the top of the seventh inning. In the bottom of the inning, leadoff hitter No. 8 Hayashi walked Hanshin’s second pitcher Yuta Iwazaki (32) and reached base. Pinch hitter Ryuta Shibata (30) then executed a sacrifice bunt, creating a chance with one out and a runner on second base. However, leadoff hitter Kajiwara struck out swinging for two outs. No. 2 Maki was walked, leaving runners on first and second, and No. 3 Sano hit a timely hit to center field, giving the team the lead. Furthermore, while the throw was messed up, Maki also slid into home plate to take the lead at 6-4.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, No. 5 Miyazaki hit a single to center field against Hanshin’s No. 3 pitcher Hidetaka Okamura (24), and Yota Kyoda (30) was sent in as a pinch runner. No. 6 Tatsuo Ebina (26) successfully executed a sacrifice bunt, putting him on second base with one out. No. 7 Yudai Yamamoto (25) followed with a single to center field, and with one out and runners on first and third, No. 8 Hayashi successfully executed a safety squeeze to widen the gap to 7-4. Pinch hitter Takaki Watarai (21) then got on base with an infield hit to shortstop, creating a chance for the bases loaded, and No. 1 Kajiwara grounded out to second base to add another run. After that, Okamura’s bad throw on a pickoff attempt and No. 2 Maki’s timely hit to left field added to the score at 10-4.

In the top of the ninth inning, with a 6-point lead, the fifth pitcher Kohei Morihara (32) took to the mound and did not allow the Hanshin batting line to fight back, keeping the game scoreless until the end. DeNA’s losing streak came to an end, and the series against Hanshin was tied at 1-1, with the third game to come tomorrow.