On June 17th at 6 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 3rd place) vs. Tohoku Rakuten Eagles (Pacific League 6th place): 2 wins, 0 losses

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Hanshin Tigers: Kotaro Otake pitcher 9 games, 2 wins, 5 losses, ERA 2.41
Tohoku Rakuten Eagles: Kenta Maeda pitcher 5 games, 0 wins, 2 losses, ERA 4.82

Tohoku Rakuten Eagles 's starting pitcher Kenta Maeda. He has appeared in 5 games for the first team this season but has yet to win. In the farm league, he pitched brilliantly in a game against Saitama Seibu Lions on June 6th, allowing only 4 hit no runs over 7 innings. This will be his first appearance for the first team since May 20th, and the question is whether he can lead his team to win and secure his first win since returning to Japanese baseball.

The team's offense will be looking to Itsuki Murabayashi who delivered a timely hit off pitcher Kotaro Otake last season. This season, he has shown his clutch hitting ability with a .417 batting average with runners in scoring position. The team has struggled in the interleague series so far, with a record of 4 wins and 13 losses. They will want to finish the final interleague game on a high note as they prepare for the resumption of the regular season.

Written by Kai Nagi Niwa