The first game of the "Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026" between Hanshin Tigers and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham will be held at Koshien on May 26th at 6 PM.

[Last season's head-to-head record] Hanshin Tigers vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham 2 wins, 1 loss

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Hanshin Tigers: pitcher Yuki Nishi - 3 wins, 0 losses in 3 games, ERA 2.25
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham: pitcher Hiromi Ito 9 games, 5 wins, 2 losses, 3.24 ERA

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham pitcher Hiromi Ito is currently on a three-game winning streak. In his last start against Tohoku Rakuten Eagles, he allowed 11 hit in 6 innings but limited the damage to just 2 runs. This time, his opponent is the powerful Hanshin Tigers Tigers, who boast the best team batting average in all 12 teams. Can he shut them down and stop his team's losing streak?

On the offensive side, Yuki Nomura hit bases loaded slam on the 24th. Despite a batting average of .238, he has shown clutch hitting ability with a .423 batting average with runners in scoring position. He will be looking to make another impact on the same stage where he experienced winning Koshien championship during his time at Hanasaki Tokuei High School.

Written by Kai Nagi Niwa