The second game of the "Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026" between Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Chunichi Dragons will be held at ES CON FIELD on June 13th at 2 PM.

[Head-to-head record] Hokkaido Nippon-Ham (Pacific League, 4th place) vs. Chunichi (Central League, 6th place): 1 win, 0 losses

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham: pitcher Ren Fukushima 6 games, 2 wins, 2 losses, ERA 2.56
Chunichi: Takahiro Matsuba (pitcher 9 games, 1 win, 5 losses, 4.50 ERA (minor league statistics)

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham' starting pitcher Ren Fukushima, who has shown exceptional consistency with two consecutive quality starts (HQS). In his last start on the 5th against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, he recorded his first double-digit strike out. This will be his first matchup against Chunichi in two years. We can expect him to redeem himself against the team that gave him 3 runs in 4 innings.

In the batting lineup, keep an eye on Yua Tamiya, who recorded two hit in the game on the 12th. So far in June, he has played in 6 games, with 8 hit in 19 At Bat, for a batting average of .421. He has also formed a battery with pitcher Fukushima for the third consecutive game, and we can expect him to contribute to extending the winning streak with both his good and bad defense.

Written by Ao Yokoyama