Former Tohoku Rakuten Eagles teammates Hisashi Iwakuma and Masahiro Tanaka are slated to lock horns next week in a pitching duel, their major league clubs announced on Saturday.
It is the first time Japanese pitchers who were former teammates will face each other in the big leagues.
Tanaka, who is 9-1 in his first season with the New York Yankees, took over as the ace of the Eagles after Iwakuma moved to the majors as a free agent in 2012.
Tanaka's 2.02 ERA leads the American League. The two will face each other for the first time in their careers on June 10, when the Yankees visit Seattle's Safeco Field.
Iwakuma is 4-2 this season with a 2.66 ERA for the Seattle Mariners after an offseason finger injury delayed the start of his season. He has a career 27-13 record in the majors.