Here are the starting pitchers for NPB’s games of Friday, June 26.

Pacific League

Eagles vs Fighters: Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Takahiro Norimoto vs Kohei Arihara

A duel between a guy major league scouts had their eye on, Norimoto, until he committed to the Eagles for eternity over the winter, and Arihara, who intends to play in the majors in 2021, provided there is a 2021 season.

Lions vs Hawks: MetLife Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

ZACH NEAL vs Nao Higashihama

Neal, who opened the 2019 season 1-1 will go for his 13th-straight win following his victory on Opening Day.

Marines vs Buffaloes: Zozo Marine Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Ayumu Ishikawa vs Taisuke Yamaoka

Central League

Dragons vs Carp: Nagoya Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Yudai Ono vs Daichi Osera

Talk about a tough act to follow. Osera went 2-for-3 with a homer, an RBI single, two runs, a sacrifice, 3 RBIs. Oh and he allowed one run over the distance. He’s 10-6 against the Dragons lifetime, but 3-4 at Nagoya Dome.

BayStars vs Tigers: Yokohama Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Shota Imanaga vs Yuki Nishi

Swallows vs Giants: Jingu Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Masanori Ishikawa vs Tomoyuki Sugano

Here are the announced starting pitchers in Nippon Professional Baseball for Thursday, June 25.

Pacific League

Eagles vs Fighters: Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Takahiro Shiomi vs DREW VERHAGEN

Drew Verhagen

Verhagen joined the Fighters in 2020 from the Detroit Tigers, where he was a 2019 teammate of Hawks pitcher Matt Moore.

Lions vs Hawks: MetLife Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Keisuke Honda vs RICK VAN DEN HURK

Rick van den Hurk

Van den Hurk joined SoftBank in 2015 after a successful stint in South Korea, and was unbeaten in his first season, going 9-0.

He pitched twice in the regular season in 2019. He was held back after feeling stiffness in his lower back in March and did not make his season debut until June. Although he pitched well, he developed pain in his right elbow. He returned to duty in September and pitched well in the postseason.

Marines vs Buffaloes: Zozo Marine Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Daiki Iwashita vs Ryota Muranishi*

Central League

Giants vs Carp: Tokyo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Toshiki Sakurai vs Atsushi Endo

BayStars vs Dragons: Yokohama Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Yuya Sakamoto* vs Yuichiro Okano*

Swallows vs Tigers: Jingu Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Hirotoshi Takanashi vs Takumi Akiyama