◆Nippon Life Central-Pacific Interleague Series 2026 Hanshin Tigers 0–1 Seibu Lions (16th · Koshien)

Seibu Lions win Hanshin Tigers, finishing the interleague series with a record of 14 wins, 3 losses, and 1 tie, securing their first-ever championship. This was the only title among the six Pacific League teams that had yet to achieve, making them the ninth team in both the Central and Pacific Leagues to win the title (the only remaining teams to achieve this are Hanshin Tigers, Chunichi, and Hiroshima).

In a pitching duel between Seibu Lions 's Hanshin Tigers and Hanshin's Saiki, it was free agent signing Kuwahara who broke the deadlock. In the fifth inning with one out and a runner on second base, he hit a ball to center fielder, scoring the first run. Takeuchi, Wingenter, Shinohara, and Kainō then held onto this precious single run, creating a circle of joy on Koshien mound

In the interleague series, they had a winning record against every Central League team. In about three weeks, they accumulated 11 wins more than losses, finally achieving their long-awaited championship. Their pitching and hitting were in perfect harmony, and they steadily accumulated victories. This season, the second year of the Nishiguchi regime, the team slogan was "Break Through." Among fielder, while their main slugger Nevin was frequently sidelined due to a left oblique injury, Hasegawa stepped up. In the games against Hiroshima on June 9th and 10th (Belluna Dome), he displayed miraculous clutch hitting by hitting walk-off hits in two consecutive games. At this point, he was leading the batting lineup with a batting average of .367. On May 28th, in a game against Yakult (Jingu Stadium), he committed a boneheaded mistake, believing left fielder had catch line drive drive that was just above the ground, and left the base heading towards the dugout, resulting in a disciplinary substitution. However, he used that frustration as motivation and successfully redeemed himself. On the 14th, in the game The Giants (at Belluna Dome), where a loss would completely eliminate their chances of winning the interleague championship, Ishii, who had mostly been warming the bench, hit a priceless third solo home run, and many other heroes emerged each day, boosting the team's morale day by day.

Manager Nishiguchi cited pitcher staff as one of the key factors in their success, saying, "They are highly reliable. The fact that our starters are able to pitch well and throw long inning is the biggest factor for us." Takahashi Hikaru, Sumida, and Taira pitched in three games and earned two wins. In addition to these three, the six starting pitchers in the rotation, including Watanabe, Takeuchi, and Wynans, consistently pitched well, establishing a win formula. The team's ERA of 1.53 during the period was the best among the 12 teams, demonstrating the formation of an impenetrable wall.

The manager cited the game against the Chunichi on the 7th (at Vantelin Dome) as a turning point. In the bottom of the 8th inning, the team’s one-run lead was erased, leading to a extra inning showdown. extra inning In the bottom of the 11th with two outs bases loaded—a truly desperate situation—Ueda pulled off a big play by catching Hosokawa off first base runner with a pickoff throw. Using this “secret weapon” walk-off—which he had deployed at crucial moments before—to prevent a loss, the team then extra inning scored three runs in the top of the 12th to take the lead."It was huge that we were able to go all the way to the 12th inning closer and win with the other players without using Shinohara and Iwaki," he said. Despite resting the two pitcher who have become key parts of the rotation win, the team managed to pull off a hard-fought victory.

With a season record of 41 wins, 23 losses, and 2 ties, they are 3.5 games ahead of second-place Softbank Hawks and await the league restart. Seibu Lions Express, on its way to its first league championship in seven years since 2019, has gained significant momentum during the interleague games.