Ukyo Shuto’s Historic Night at Plate Helps SoftBank Hawks Even Series

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:46 JST, October 27, 2025

FUKUOKA — Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks center fielder Ukyo Shuto showed little of the injuries that plagued him throughout the season when he put on a record-setting performance at the plate in the Japan Series on Sunday night.

Shuto became the first player in series history with five hits as he went a perfect 5 for 5 in a 10-1 win over the Hanshin Tigers at Mizuho PayPay Dome to even the best-of-seven series at 1-1.

Slugger Hotaka Yamakawa, limited to pinch-hitting duty in the opener, homered and drove in five runs as the Hawks exploded to a 9-1 lead after two innings.

Shuto, batting second, particularly showed his adeptness in the second inning, when he sparked a six-run rally with a two-out RBI triple. Two pitches after Taisei Makihara stole second, Shuto drilled a fastball into the left-center field gap.

“It was my role to get the runner home and I was fired up,” Shuto said.

Shuto got his seventh season with the Hawks off to a good start, only to get hit by a pitch on the right fibula in late-April, knocking him out of action for a month. Late in the season, he suffered a back injury. Overall, he was limited to 96 games and, although he batted .286, fell 13 at-bats short of having enough to be listed among the leaders.

It was surely a frustrating time for the Hawks’ players union rep, who was unable to be involved as the Hawks clinched a second straight Pacific League pennant.

“I never thought I would etch my name in the long history [of Japan pro baseball] with my hitting,” Shuto said in a post-game interview.

In addition to his second-inning triple, Shuto singled and scored a run in the first inning, had singles to center in the third and fifth innings, and capped his record-breaking show with a double to left in the seventh.