◆Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026 Yakult 1-7 Nippon-Ham (July 7th, Jingu Stadium)

Nippon-Ham achieved their third four-game winning streak of the season, bringing their lead in the standings to a season-high of "2".

In the first inning, Reyes hit a two-run doble to left field, his 12th of the season, to give them the lead. In the fifth inning, Kiyomiya Yuki hit a timely double to center field to add another run, and then another run was scored on an opponent's error. With two outs and a runner on first, cleanup hitter Martinez hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to center field, giving them a four-run lead in the inning.

Starting pitcher Kitayama overcame a jam in the first inning with no outs and runners on first and second base, and then pitched a near-perfect game through six innings, allowing only two hit and no runs. In his third at-bat in the sixth inning with bases loaded loaded and no outs, he hit RBI to center sacrifice fly, driving in an RBI.

He gave up one run in the seventh inning on a timely single to right field by Takeoka, but his strong pitching saved the reliever pitchers who had been overworked. He earned his fifth win of the season with one runs in nine innings.