◆Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026: Lotte 4-2 Hanshin Tigers (May 31st, ZOZO Marine Stadium)

Lotte win Hanshin Tigers, preventing a three-game sweep.

In the second inning, Yamaguchi led off the first pitch from Hanshin Tigers 's starting pitcher Saiki and hit triple that hit the center wall fence, creating a scoring opportunity with no outs and a runner on third. Sato followed with sacrifice fly fly to center field, giving his team the lead.

Long pitcher, who started for his first win in Japan, was pulled after 1 hit 1 runs in the 4th inning. He threw a fastball topping out at 150 km/h with cutter and slider, scoring three consecutive struck out in the first inning but still leading by one run in the third inning. He let Dibeini walk the lead, but first baseman Soto made a mistake on Kumagai's bunt that followed. With runners on first and third and no outs, Umeno hit a grounder to second double play tied the game. In the 4th inning, he carried runner in scoring position but escaped without runs, and from the 5th inning, Ono was in second place to mound. Long was substituted after 65 pitches.

In the fifth inning, with two outs and runners on first and second base, Wada hit a timely single to right field, tying the game.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, with the score tied 2-2 and one out with runners on first and second base, Yamaguchi connected with Moretta's fifth pitch, a 134 km/h slider, sending it to right-center field for a two-run doble to give his team the lead.

On this day, Arashi, who will be ending their 26 and a half years of activity with the final performance of their national tour "We are ARASHI" (15 performances in 5 cities) at Tokyo Dome, played "Love so sweet" during the exchange of roster cards before the game, "Sakura Sake" before Hanshin Tigers' attack in the 3rd inning, and "A・RA・SHI" during ground maintenance after the 5th inning, accompanied by a dance performance by M☆Splash!!. Before Hanshin Tigers attack in the 6th inning, "One Love" and "Still..." were played consecutively, showing the entire stadium paying tribute to Arashi.