On June 6th at 2 PM, the second game of the "Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026" between Hanshin Tigers and the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles will be held at Koshien.

[Head-to-head record] Hanshin Tigers (Central League 2nd place) vs. Tohoku Rakuten Eagles (Pacific League 6th place): 1 win, 0 losses

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Hanshin Tigers: Shoki Murakami pitcher 10 games, 4 wins, 3 losses, 1.93 ERA (3rd place)
Tohoku Rakuten Eagles: Takahisa Hayakawa pitcher 7 games, 3 wins, 1 loss, ERA 2.20

Tohoku Rakuten Eagles 's starting pitcher Takahisa Hayakawa. In his last appearance (May 30 against Tokyo Yakult), he suffered his first loss of the season, giving up 8 hit, 1 Walk 4 strike out 5 runs in 5 innings, throwing 82 pitches. This will be his first appearance against Hanshin Tigers since June 13, 2021, during his rookie year. In this game, he is expected to deliver pitch that will break the team's losing streak.

In the batting lineup, Ryuya Taira is in good form, with hit in four consecutive games. In the previous game, he started as the "number 3 hitter and third baseman" and recorded two hit.

Written by Riyoko Niwa