◆Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026 Chunichi 0-3 Softbank Hawks (June 2nd, Vantelin Dome)

He poured his hidden fighting spirit into the white ball. In the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, Softbank Hawks 's Otsu retired Tanaka, who had given up the only hit, with a foul fly to third base, achieving his first complete complete game shutout game as a professional. "I pitched with the intention of getting revenge at the end. I'm happy because (shutout game) was my goal." This was his sixth win, tying him for the league lead. He led his team to their longest winning streak of the season, tying it with five consecutive wins, and high-fived his catcher, Umino.

In the first inning, he retided the three batters in order, mainly relying on fastballs in the high 140 km/h range, which he said, "I had a good feel and was really good at hitting." Chunichi He read that the lineup was targeting his special pitch, 'Matche' (a fastball thrown with a change-up grip), and built a mountain of poor hits, saying, 'In the early game, I pushed with fastballs and switched to that in the second half.' With three runs of support, he was pitch completely out in the seventh inning. Tanaka gave up a single to left, but he calmly threw the perfect game and Mu hit runs pitch because I wasn't aiming for them, and struck out tied his personal best with 11.

ERA is also 1.14, the best in the league. With two pitcher titles to his name at this point, Otsu smiled and said, "It gives me a lot of confidence. Next time, I'll pitch humbly without getting too greedy." He maintained the team's lead in the interleague series, and manager Kokubo praised him, saying, "I could watch him with peace of mind." He once again demonstrated his unwavering stability. (Tosei Moriguchi)