The second game between Orix and Tohoku Rakuten will be held at Kyocera Dome Osaka from 2:00 p.m. on March 29th.

[Match results] Orix (1st place) vs. Tohoku Rakuten (4th place) 1 win, 0 losses

[Scheduled starting pitchers (last season's results)]
Orix: pitcher Alen Kuri 23 games, 7 wins, 10 losses, ERA 3.21
Tohoku Rakuten: pitcher Tatsuki Koja, 15 games, 5 wins, 8 losses, ERA 4.32

For Orix, pitcher Alen Kuri will be starting for the first time since his transfer. With Hiroshima, where he played until last season, he pitched in 260 games over 12 years, winning 71 games. In the exhibition games, he pitched 17.2 innings and showed stable pitching with ERA of 2.55. Will he be able to confuse hitter with his diverse pitches in this game and deliver win to the home fans?

Also, keep an eye on fielder Ryoma Nishikawa. Although he struggled with a batting average of 0.000 in the exhibition games, he showed his batting skills with 3 hit in the opening game. He will be hoping to continue the momentum of the previous game, which was walk-off win.

On the other hand, Tohoku Rakuten 's player, Toshiki Abe is showing his spirit. In the previous game, he hit doble in the top of the ninth inning, which started the team's efforts to tie the score. He also had two hit in the exhibition game on the 22nd, and is maintaining his good form. He would like to hit a hit to support starting pitcher, Tatsuki Koja, and contribute to the team's first win of the season.

Text by Hayato Sugimori

・ Pacific League standings /individual results