On June 7th at 2 PM, the third 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 1st place) vs. Tohoku Rakuten Eagles (Pacific League 6th place): 2 wins, 0 losses

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Hanshin Tigers: pitcher Hiroto Saiki, 10 games, 5 wins, 2 losses, ERA 3.13
Tohoku Rakuten Eagles: pitcher Masaru Fujii: 5 games, 1 win, 2 losses, ERA 3.16

Tohoku Rakuten Eagles 's starting pitcher, Masaru Fujii, earned his first win of the season against Chiba Lotte Marines on May 24th, but struggled in May, giving up 10 runs (9 earned runs) in 19.2 innings over four games, with ERA of 4.12. Last season, he pitched well against Hanshin Tigers, giving up only 3 hit no runs over 6 innings, so he will be hoping to shut down the powerful Tigers lineup again in this game.

Keep an eye on Fumiya Kurokawa in the batting lineup. Although he went hitless in three At Bat hit in the game on the 6th, he had a timely hit the day before. He'll be looking to contribute to win with his hitting and stop the team's losing streak.

Written by Riyoko Niwa