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Pacific League Dominating Interleague

by Yuri Karasawa
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The Nippon-Ham Fighters had a 5-1 week and now lead NPB with a 36-25 record (Photo: NTV).

Two weeks down, one to go. Interleague play is in full swing, with the Pacific League holding a combined 41-29-1 record against the Central League and the SoftBank Hawks currently leading the way at 8-3-1 entering the final two series.

Fellow PL teams Orix, Nippon-Ham, and Seibu are close behind at 7-5, while the Yomiuri Giants are surprisingly at the bottom of the interleague standings at 3-7-1. Let’s recap all the recent action!

NPB June Power Rankings

Tuesday (June 10)

Bryan Sammons’ no-hit bid
  • Bryan Sammons (Marines) took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Carp in a 6-1 victory.
  • Kota Tatsu (Fighters) pitched seven scoreless innings against the Swallows and lowered his ERA to 0.34 in four starts.
  • Haruto Inoue (Giants) was ejected in the second inning after hitting Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) in the helmet. NPB has automatic ejections for a HBP to the head.

Wednesday (June 11)

DeNA-Orix Highlights
  • Andre Jackson (BayStars) fired seven shutout frames against the Buffaloes.
  • Takayuki Katoh (Fighters) went the complete game in an 8-2 win over the Swallows.
  • The Lions stormed back from 2-0 down in the ninth inning to walk-off the Tigers, 3-2. It was 37-year-old Ginjiro Sumitani’s first walk-off hit since 2014.

Thursday (June 12)

Koki Kitayama’s 14 strikeouts
  • Koki Kitayama (Fighters) struck out a career-high 14 batters over eight innings with no earned runs allowed. Final line: 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 14 K, 119 P, 20 Whiffs.
  • Oscar Gonzalez (Eagles) hit his first NPB home run.
  • Iori Yamasaki (Giants) and Tomohisa Ohzeki (Hawks) threw eight and nine shutout innings, respectively. The game ended in a scoreless draw.

Friday (June 13)

Livan Moinelo’s 13 strikeouts
  • Livan Moinelo (Hawks) followed up his 18-strikeout performance last week with a 13-strikeout complete game against the BayStars.
  • The Marines walked off the Swallows on a wild pitch.

Saturday (June 14)

Orix-DeNA Highlights
  • Kojiro Yoshimura fired seven shutout innings as the Swallows snapped a four-game losing streak.
  • Yuto Akihiro hit his first homer as a SoftBank Hawk after being traded for Richard Sunagawa last month.
  • Haruki Hosono (Fighters) won his first career NPB game against the Carp.
  • The Buffaloes beat the Giants on a walk-off walk after Hiroya Miyagi pitched nine innings of one-run ball.

Sunday (June 15)

Yua Tamiya’s walk-off bomb
  • Daito Yamamoto (Marines) homered twice in a 5-4 win over the Swallows.
  • Yua Tamiya (Fighters) hit a walk-off home run in extras against the Carp. Nippon-Ham trailed 7-0 in the sixth inning before scoring eight unanswered runs.
  • Reigning PL MVP Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) hit his first homer of 2025 (he missed two months with an injury).
  • The Eagles walked off the Tigers in extras for the second straight day to complete a sweep.

Central League Standings

Pacific League Standings

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