The third game of the "Nippon Life Central-Pacific Interleague Series 2026" between the Orix Buffaloes and the Tokyo Yakult will take place on June 11 at 6:00 PM at Kyocera Dome Osaka.

[Series Record] Orix Buffaloes (3rd in the Pacific League) vs. Tokyo Yakult (3rd in the Central League) 2-0

[Starting Pitchers]
Orix Buffaloes: Espinoza pitcher 9 games, 5 wins, 2 losses; ERA 2.21
Tokyo Yakult: Shimosawa Shunsuke pitcher 11 games, 2-3, ERA 1.77 (minor league stats)

Orix Buffaloes Espinoza pitcher will start. In May, he made four appearances, pitching 20.2 innings with 10 runs and a ERA of 4.35, struggling to find his form.In his last start (on the 4th against the The Giants), he pitched 7.1 innings with 2 runs, but allowed the go-ahead run in the 8th inning and suffered his second loss. He hopes to put on a strong pitching performance in this game and secure his first win since May 20.

On the offensive side, Kenya Wakatsuki. Since the player who was forming the battery with Espinoza pitcher Tomoya Mori has been removed from the roster, so he is expected to form the battery with him again in this game, following their previous outing. In the last game, Wakatsuki doble and Walk went 4-for-4, reaching base in all four at-bats. We look forward to seeing him excel both offensively and defensively in this game as well.

Text by Aoi Nishijima