On June 14th at 1:00 PM, the third game of the "Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026" between Hokkaido Nippon-Ham and Chunichi Dragons will be held at ES CON FIELD.

[Head-to-head record] Hokkaido Nippon-Ham (Pacific League, 3rd place) vs. Chunichi (Central League, 6th place): 2 wins, 0 losses

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham: pitcher Ruei-Yang Gu Lin, 6 games, 0 wins, 1 loss, ERA 5.40
Chunichi: pitcher Hideaki Wakui, 1 game, 0 wins, 0 losses, ERA 1.80

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham have climbed to third place in the league with nine consecutive wins. Starting pitcher Ruei-Yang Gu Lin will be making his first appearance on the first-team mound since May 2nd. After being removed from the roster, he has been adjusting in four farm team games, recording 11 runs allowed in 21.2 innings with ERA of 4.57. Nevertheless, in his last appearance (on the 7th against Oisix Niigata), he pitched well, allowing only two hit and no runs in five innings. He is in good form and will be aiming for his first win in interleague play.

In the batting lineup, expectations are Taiki Narama, who has made a strong impression since the start of the season, including hitting walk-off against Tohoku Rakuten Eagles on April 22nd. In the game on the 13th, he made his first start in five games, and in the bottom of the 3rd inning, he hitter off with doble, contributing to the subsequent scoring run. Although he struggled in May with a monthly batting average of .074, we hope he will once again be able to liven up the game and act as a mood-maker.

Written by Ao Yokoyama