◆Nippon Life Interleague Series 2026 Yakult 2-5 Lotte (June 4th, Jingu Stadium)

Lotte won their first series in two interleague games, bringing their deficit from a maximum of nine games to just one, and they will face The Giants in a series at Tokyo Dome starting on the 5th.

The offense took advantage of Yakult 's starting pitcher Ogawa's early performance. In the first inning, with two outs and runners on second and third, Soto hit a two-run single to center field to give them the lead. In the third inning, Yamaguchi hit an RBI single, and in the fifth inning, Nishikawa and Soto hit RBI doble, effectively adding to their lead.

Left-handed starting pitcher Kojima received run support and earned his second win of the season, throwing 114 pitches over seven innings, allowing only three hit, strike out eight, and runs one run. Against Yakult, who lined up nine right-handed hitter in their starting starting line-up, including starter Ogawa, pitch aggressively from the first inning. He used sharp fastballs to target the inside corner and kept breaking ball low, allowing only two Hit by Pitch and no hit through five innings. In the sixth inning, he gave up a run after Montel hit a doble, but he managed to hold the game in check.

The starting pitcher for the game against The Giants on the 5th will be second-year right-hander Hiroike. He will be making his first appearance on Tokyo Dome mound and will be helping the team pay off their deficit.