On May 30th at 2 PM, the second game of the "Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026" between Hokkaido Nippon-Ham and the Yomiuri The Giants will be held at ES CON FIELD.

[Head-to-head record] Hokkaido Nippon-Ham (Pacific League, 4th place) vs. The Giants (Central League, 3rd place): 0 wins, 1 loss

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham: Kohei Arihara pitcher 5 games, 1 win, 4 losses, ERA 8.23
The Giants: pitcher Yuya Nishidate, 4 games played, 2 wins, 0 losses, ERA 0.47 (minor league statistics)

The starting pitcher for Hokkaido Nippon-Ham is Kohei Arihara. In his last appearance with the first team (April 26th against Orix Buffaloes), he struggled, giving up 7 hit, 2 Walk, and 8 runs on 71 pitches in 3.1 innings, and was removed from the roster the following day. He pitched well in the minor leagues, giving up only 4 runs in 15 inning over 3 games with ERA of 1.80, and has now been promoted to the first team. Can he become a key player in the interleague series?

In the batting lineup, Castro is currently on a seven-game hit. In 33 games, he has a stable record with 26 hits in 104 At Bat hit 6 Home Run, and 15 RBI, for a batting average of .250.

Text by Rian Ueno