Wednesday 3 June - セ・パ交流戦2026 Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-06-03 Dragons-Hawks went 11 innings
37 year old veteran Yoshihiro Maru launched his third career pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the 8th inning to flip a 4-1 deficit into a thrilling 5-4 victory for the Yomiuri Giants over the Orix Buyffaloes. The Buffaloes led 3-0 in the 7th when Bobby Dalbec delivered his 9th homer of the year to put the Giants on the board. Tomoya Noguchi restored the 3-run cushion in the top of the 8th with his second blast of the season to set up the dramatics in the home half of the frame. In the 2nd inning a pitch from Giants starter Shosei Togo doinked off the batting helmet of Kotaro Kurebayashi which was cause for automatic ejection after just 14 pitches. A 2-RBI double form Taiki Mochimaru capped a 3-run 1st inning off ace Hiromi Itoh which held up for a 3-1 win for the Hiroshima Carp over the Nippon-Ham Fighters at Mazda Stadium. Carp starter Hiroki Tokoda allowed just one run over 6 quality innings for his third win of the year. The Fighters took the loss despite outhitting the Carp 9-7 and stranding 11 runners on base including 6 in scoring position. A solo home run from Shu Masuda in the 6th inning was enough to give the Yakult Swallows a 1-0 win over the Lotte Marines at Meiji Jingu. A healthy Keiji Takahashi was solid over 7 innings allowing just two hits while striking out 6 to earn his first win of the year. Relievers Tomoya Hoshi and José Quijada preserved the shutout as the trio allowed just 4 hits and one walk overall.
A 2-run double from Ryuta Hirose kicked off a 3-run rally to give the SoftBank Hawks an 8-5 win in 11 innings over the Chunichi Dragons. Seiya Hosokawa highlighted a 4-run 5th inning for the Dragons with his 7th home run of the season, a 3-run bomb into the left field bleachers. The Hawks immediately hit back by batting around the order and scoring 5 runs in the top of the 6th. An RBI single from Hiroki Fukunaga leveled the score a 5-5 where it remained until the 11th and deciding frame. Yutaro Watanabe tossed 7 brilliant shutout innings to help the Seibu Lions to a 3-2 win over the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium. Tyler Nevin put the visitors in front with a solo blast to dead center field, his 10th home run in his 25th game of the season. A two-out error by shortstop Ryuhei Obata allowed 2 crucial runs to score increasing the tally to 3-0. Closer Hakua Iwaki gave up a 9th inning lead off triple to Shota Morishita, then Teruaki Sato hit a 2-run home run - his 15th of the year - to cut the deficit to 3-2 but Iwaki settled to complete his 17th save of the campaign. A timely double from Daisuke Nakashima scored Itsuki Murabayashi in the 9th inning as the Rakuten Eagles won their second in a row with a 2-0 victory over the DeNA BayStars. Nakashima scored the insurance run off a wild pitch by Yasuaki Yamasaki. Starting pitchers Tatsuki Koja (Eagles) and Yutaro Ishida (BayStars) engaged in a strong 6 inning duel with neither hurler figuring in the decision.
Thursday 4 June - セ・パ交流戦2026 Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-06-04 Carp-Fighters went 12 innings
In perhaps the most dramatic game of the season, the DeNA BayStars flipped a 7-0 deficit in the 8th inning and came away with an exciting 8-7 sayonara victory over the Rakuten Eagles that ended on an overturned replay at home plate. Naoki Satō kick started the night with a solo home run that ignited a 4-run rally in the 1st inning for the Eagles. It remain 4-0 until the top of the 8th when Satō delivered a 3-run bases clearing double to give Rakuten a seemingly insurmountable 7-0 lead with 6 outs to go. But the Eagles pitching collapsed as the BayStars came back with a vengeance, sending 13 batters to the plate that produced 7 runs on 6 hits, a walk and 3 hit batsmen in a wild bottom half of the frame. And just when one thought it couldn't get any more thrilling, a wild pitch from Masaya Nishigaki in the bottom of the 9th allowed pinch runner Masaki Mimori to take off from second base, race around third and slide home with the sayonara run. Mimori was initially called out on the play at the plate, but replay confirmed Mimori cleverly avoided the attempted tag by Nishigaki and the 'safe' motion from umpire Tetsuo Yamaji following replay review set off wild celebrations inside Yokohama Stadium. Shugo Maki, who returned to action this week after missing a month due to a right hamstring strain, drove in 3 runs in his 2 at bats during the 8th inning rally. An RBI double from Yuta Izuguchi scored pinch runner Makoto Kadowaki in the 8th inning to give the Yomiuri Giants a 2-1 victory completing the series sweep over the Orix Buffaloes. Although he didn't figure in the decision, Masahiro Tanaka looked a little vintage in recording 6 strikeouts in 7 innings of one-run ball. Anderson Espinoza fanned 9 Giants batters in 7-1/3 innings but served up a gopher ball to Trey Cabbage, the American's 11th home run of the year.
A 2-run home run from Ryoya Kurihara in the 1st inning held up to give the SoftBank Hawks a 2-1 victory over the Chunichi Dragons. It was Kurihara's 17th bomb of the year which leads all of NPB as the Hawks extended their winning streak to 7 games. Carter Stewart Jr. allowed a run on 4 hits and 2 walks with 6 strikeouts before being removed with one out in the 6th inning. 4 pitchers combined for a scoreless relief effort, earning Stewart his 4th win of the season. Another strong outing from Kaima Taira helped the Seibu Lions defeat the Hanshin Tigers 4-2. The ace right-hander allowed just one earned run on 4 hits and a walk over 7 innings to lower his ERA to 0.75 and earn his 4th win of the season. Closer Hakua Iwaki pitched himself in and out of trouble again in the 9th inning, surviving a bases-loaded one out situation for save number 18 on the year. Yuki Nishi's fanning of Alexander Canario in the 3rd inning marked the 1500th strikeout of the 18-year veteran's career. 3 runs in the top of the 12th inning gave the Nippon-Ham Fighters a 5-2 win over the HiroshimaCarp. Franmil Reyes slugged his 10th home run of the year to reach double digit bombs in all three seasons since arriving in NPB. Sandro Fabian homered for the Carp while Kaito Kozono went 4-for-6 at the plate including a triple. Both teams used 17 pitchers total with the Fighters having used 9. Team captain Neftali Soto hit a modasho 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs helping the Lotte Marines defeat the Yakult Swallows 5-2 in Tokyo. Marines starting pitcher Kazuya Ojima tossed a sharp 7 innings allowing just one earned run while striking out 8 for his second win of the campaign. Rikuto Yokoyama made quick work in the 9th for his 20th save.
Weekend series matchups, 5-7 June. These will be the final Interleague games played under the "9 player system", where pitchers will bat in the starting lineup. Next season the Central League will adopt the "DH system" which the Pacific League has been using since 1975.
Friday 5 June - セ・パ交流戦2026 Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-06-05 Swallows-Fighters went 11 innings Carp-Buffaloes finished tied after 12 innings
Toshiki Abe singled home Hiroki Fukunaga from second base in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Chunichi Dragons a sayonara 1-0 win over the Seibu Lions in Nagoya. Dragons starting pitcher Yūya Yanagi pitched 7 shutout innings while closer Shinya Matsuyama picked up his first win of the year. Lions starter Kona Takahashi was one out away from throwing 9 complete innings in a spirited 121-pitch performance but ended up with his third loss of the campaign. It was business as usual for Haruto Takahashi who struck out 10 batters in 7 innings to help lead the Hanshin Tigers to an 8-1 victory over the Rakuten Eagles at Koshien Stadium. Takahashi allowed just one earned run, lowering his ERA to 0.90 while boosting his record to 7-0. Takahiro Kumagai was Hanshin's offensive hero going 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs and a run scored. Home runs from Ryūki Watarai, Cooper Hummel and Shion Matsuo in the 5th inning helped power the DeNA BayStars to a convincing 8-3 win over the SoftBank Hawks at Hamasta. Shugo Maki had a 3-hit modasho night that included a 3-run homer to open the scoring in the 3rd inning. Takanori Takahashi's 9th inning home run for the Hawks was his first bomb of the year. A 5-run rally in the 6th inning helped boost the Yomiuri Giants to an 8-1 win over the Lotte Marines at the Tokyo Dome. Raito Nakayama led Yomiuri with 2 doubles and 5 RBIs while Trey Cabbage homered for the second night in a row, his 12th of the season. Neftali Soto ended the hopes of Kyojin starter Haruto Inoue's attempt at a complete game shutout with a 2-out 2-run home run in the top of the 9th. The jack was the Purto Rican slugger's 200th NPB career home run.
Tatsuki Mizuno homered in the 11th inning as the Nippon-Ham Fighters got past the Yakult Swallows 3-1 at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo. Trailing 1-0 in the 7th, the Fighters tied it on a mammoth home run by Franmil Reyes that sailed over the netting beyond the left field bleachers. Although he didn't figure in the decision, Nippon-Ham's 23 year old starter Ren Fukushima was stellar in 7 innings, allowing just one run while fanning 10 batters For the Swallows - who were donning retro 1960s uniforms - the defeat broke a streak of 22 consecutive wins in games they had scored first. For the season they are 24-2 when scoring first. At Mazda Stadium, the Hiroshima Carp and Orix Buffaloes played out a 2-2 tie after 12 innings. Ryoma Nishikawa, who spent 8 seasons with the Carp before signing with the Buffaloes as a free agent in 2024, hit a game-tying sacrifice fly in the 9th inning to send the game into extra innings where both teams' pitching staffs held firm.
Saturday 6 June - セ・パ交流戦2026 Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-06-06 Giants-Marines finished tied after 12 innings
Masato Morishita pitched 7-1/3 innings for his 4th win of the year and also helped his cause with a RBI double as the Hiroshima Carp defeated the Orix Buffaloes 7-4 on Saturday afternoon. Shogo Sakakura and Taiki Mochimaru each hit solo home runs while Norihiko Nabara added insurance with a 2-run triple in the 8th inning to lead the Carp attack. A single in the 5th inning from Masahiro Tateishi drove in Takahiro Kumagai for the game's only run to give the Hanshin Tigers a 1-0 win over the Rakuten Eagles. It's just the second time in Interleague history that a rookie provided the game winning hit. Shoki Murakami struck out 7 batters over 6 innings to earn his 5th win of the year. Rakuten's Takahisa Hayakawa was just as effective,fanning 8 batters in 6 frames in a quality pitching duel. It's rarely seen in NPB but the 5th inning ended when Shota Morishita argued with home plate umpire Katsumi Manabe over ball/strike calls leading the Tigers slugger being ejected for abusive language. Excluding beaning to a batter's head by pitchers (which is an automatic ejection), Morishita is the first player ejected for arguing with an umpire since 15 May 2022 (Brandon Laird, Lotte Marines vs Rakuten Eagles). In Saturday's nightcap, the Yomiuri Giants and Lotte Marines finished 1-1 after 12 innings. It's the first tie game for both teams this campaign and the third game to end in a tie during this season's Interleague play.
Tyler Nevin homered for the 11th time in 28 games played this season to help the Seibu Lions to a 5-2 victory over the Chunichi Dragons. Nevin's 3-run home run capped a 4-run 6th inning that saw the Lions overturn a 2-0 deficit. Chihiro Sumida tossed his 5th straight quality start, allowing 2 earned runs on just 3 hits and 2 walks with 7 strikeouts over 8 innings for his 5th win of the year. Yutaro Itayama's 2-run home run had given the Dragons the lead in the 2nd inning. Yugo Maeda pitched a stellar 5 innings allowing just one hit and retiring the last 14 batters he faced in the SoftBank Hawks 6-3 win over the DeNA BayStars. Tomoya Masaki hit his 4th home run of the season for SoftBank. The BayStars were held to just 2 hits until the 8th inning. Inther 9th, Shugo Maki homered for the second straight game. Timely base hits from Yuki Nomura in the 4th inning and Franmil Reyes in the 5th provided the necessary scoring in the Nippon-Ham Fighters 2-0 shutout win over the Yakult Swallows. Veteran hurler Sachiya Yamasaki pitched 5-2/3 scoreless innings for the Fighters with 4 relievers keeping the lead and shutout intact. Swallows starter Hirotoshi Takanashi was forced out of the game in the 4th inning with an apparent injury.
Sunday 7 June - セ・パ交流戦2026 Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-06-07 Tigers-Eagles postponed (rain) Dragons-Lions went 12 innings BayStars-Hawks went 12 innings Giants-Marines finished tied after 12 innings
Koki Kitayama pitched his second complete game of the season as the Nippon-Ham Fighters completed the three game series sweep with a 7-1 win over the Yakult Swallows. Kitayama allowed a run on 4 hits and a walk while recording 6 strikeouts for his 5th win of the year. Franmil Reyes opened the scoring with a 2-run blast in the 1st inning, his 12th home run of the campaign. Ariel Martínez added a 2-run homer that capped a 4-run 5th inning. The win extended th3e Fighters winning streak to 4 games. Shinya Hasegawa blasted a solo home run and Yuto Koga added a 2-run double as the Seibu Lions defeated the Chunichi Dragons 4-1 in 12 innings. Lions starting pitcher Alan Winans tossed 7 shutout innings of 1-hit ball, walking 3 while registering 8 strikeouts. Taishi Mameda made quick work in the bottom of the 12th to earn his first save since 2023. A perfectly executed safety squeeze from Yudai Shoji in the 12th inning helped give the SoftBank Hawks a 4-2 win over the DeNA BayStars. Shuto Ogata pitched well against the team that traded him away last month, going 5 innings and allowing a run on 2 hits and 2 walks while fanning 7 batters. He also legged out an infield hit in his only plate appearance. Yūdai Yamamoto, who went the other way in the same trade, was unable to play against his former team after getting injured before the series.
A 2-run double from Ryosuke Kikuchi highlighted a 4-run rally in the 2nd inning as the Hiroshima Carp went on to a 5-2 victory over the Orix Buffaloes. Shun Okamoto earned his 4th win after pitching 7 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. Hisanori Yasuda connected for a game-tying solo home run off Raidel Martínez in the top of the 9th inning as the Yomiuri Giants and Lotte Marines went on to finish in a 2-2 tie after 12 innings. It was the first home run allowed by the intimidating Cuban Martínez in 2026. The game between the Hanshin Tigers and Rakuten Eagles at Koshien was rained out and will be made up on Monday. Off the field, Tigers slugger Shota Morishita was fined ¥100,000 ($630) for getting ejected from Saturday's game for abusive language towards home plate umpire Katsumi Manabe.
Monday 8 June - セ・パ交流戦2026 Boxscore: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/game/2021044693/top Tigers-Eagles postponed (rain)
BATTING *To qualify: 3.1 plate appearances per the number of games played by that player's club Average .410 - Keita Sano (BayStars) .396 - Misho Nishikawa (Marines) .370 - Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) .353 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .344 - Shinya Hasegawa (Lions) .327 - Tatsuo Ebina (BayStars) .325 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .297 - Taisei Makihara (Hawks) .295 - Toshiya Satō (Marines) .294 - Ryuya Taira (Eagles) On-Base Percentage .477 - Keita Sano (BayStars) .4634 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .4629 - Misho Nishikawa (Marines) .410 - Tomoya Masaki (Hawks) .400 - Tatsuo Ebina (BayStars) .396 - Toshiya Satō (Marines) .388 - Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) .382 - Shinya Hasegawa (Lions) .372 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .370 - Natsuo Takizawa (Lions) .370 - Franmil Reyes (Fighters) OPS 1.025 - Misho Nishikawa (Marines) 1.011 - Franmil Reyes (Fighters) .995 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) .990 - Keita Sano (BayStars) .979 - Trey Cabbage (Giants) .945 - Shinya Hasegawa (Lions) .934 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .9312 - Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) .9306 - Tatsuo Ebina (BayStars) .930 - Tomoya Masaki (Hawks) Home Runs 5 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) 4 - Trey Cabbage (Giants) 4 - Franmil Reyes (Fighters) 4 - Tyler Nevin (Lions) 3 - Tomoya Masaki (Hawks) 3 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) 3 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 2 - 13 players tied RBIs 14 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) 10 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 10 - Trey Cabbage (Giants) 8 - Tomoya Masaki (Hawks) 8 - Tyler Nevin (Lions) 8 - Ryūki Watarai (BayStars) 8 - Neftalí Soto (Marines) 8 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) 7 - Franmil Reyes (Fighters) 7 - Alexander Canario (Lions) 7 - Norihiko Nabara (Carp) 7 - Koki Yamaguchi(Marines) AVG with RISP .571 - Ryōma Yamanaka (Buffaloes) .556 - Norihiko Nabara (Carp) .500 - Alexander Canario (Lions) .500 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) .438 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) .429 - Keita Sano (BayStars) .429 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .400 - Tatsuo Ebina (BayStars) .400 - Takaya Ishikawa (Dragons) .400 - Takumu Nakano (Tigers) .400 - Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) Stolen Bases 6 - Shunsuke Urata (Giants) 4 - Yudai Shoji (Hawks) 4 - Konosuke Tatsumi (Carp) 3 - Tatsuki Mizuno (Fighters) 3 - Yukihiro Iwata (Swallows) 3 - Taiki Narama (Fighters) 3 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 2 - 8 players tied PITCHING *Minimum innings equal to the number of games played by that pitcher's club. ERA 0.00 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) 0.00 - Yutaro Watanabe (Lions) 0.00 - Ryōta Takinaka (Eagles) 0.60 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 0.60 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) 0.60 - Yumeto Kanemaru (Dragons) 0.60 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 0.69 - Yuhi Nishidate (Giants) 0.69 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 0.69 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) 0.69 - Andre Jackson (Marines) WHIP 0.60 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 0.64 - Yutaro Watanabe (Lions) 0.67 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 0.69 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) 0.71 - Shōgo Tamamura (Carp) 0.77 - Keiji Takahashi (Swallows) 0.80 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) 0.82 - Chihiro Sumida (Lions) 0.83 - Ryōta Takinaka (Eagles) 0.86 - Haruto Inoue (Giants) Innings pitched 17.0 - Chihiro Sumida (Lions) 16.1 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 16.0 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) 15.0 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 15.0 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) 15.0 - Yumeto Kanemaru (Dragons) 15.0 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 15.0 - Taichi Yamano (Swallows) 14.0 - 8 players tied Strikeouts 17 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) 17 - Ren Fukushima (Fighters) 17 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 17 - Ryuhei Sotani (Buffaloes) 17 - Allen Kuri (Buffaloes) 16 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 16 - Chihiro Sumida (Lions) 16 - Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) 15 - Kazuki Sugiyama (Hawks) 15 - Yuhi Nishidate (Giants) Wins 2 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) 2 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 2 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) 2 - Chihiro Sumida (Lions) 2 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 2 - Haruto Inoue (Giants) 2 - Hikaru Kimura (Hawks) 2 - Carter Stewart Jr. (Hawks) 1 - 49 players tied Holds 6 - Roberto Osuna (Hawks) 5 - Hiroya Shimamoto (Fighters) 5 - Seigi Tanaka (Fighters) 5 - Taisei Ota (Giants) 5 - Yuki Matsumoto (Hawks) 4 - Sean Reynolds (BayStars) 4 - Darwinzon Hernández (Hawks) 4 - Eito Tanaka (Giants) 4 - Shunsuke Nakamori (Marines) 4 - Shota Suzuki (Marines) 4 - Ren Mukunoki (Buffaloes) Saves 5 - Rikuto Yokoyama (Marines) 5 - Kazuki Sugiyama (Hawks) 5 - Raidel Martínez (Giants) 4 - Taisei Yanagawa (Fighters) 3 - Andrés Machado (Buffaloes) 3 - Rafael Dolis (Tigers) 2 - Shinya Matsuyama (Dragons) 2 - Daisuke Moriura (Carp) 2 - Hakua Iwaki (Lions) 1 - 11 players tied