The first game between Tohoku Rakuten and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham will be held at Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi from 6:00 p.m. on April 8th.

[Last season's results] Tohoku Rakuten vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham 10 wins, 13 losses, 2 draws

[Scheduled starting pitchers]
Tohoku Rakuten: pitcher Masaru Fujii: 22 games played, 11 wins, 5 losses, ERA 2.93 (last season)
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham pitcher Hiromi Ito 1 game, 0 wins, 1 loss, ERA 9.00

pitcher Masaru Fujii will start for Tohoku Rakuten. He was originally scheduled to start on the 1st and 2nd, but the games were cancelled due to rain, so this will be his first appearance of the season. Although he did not reach the regulation last season, he made a big leap with 11 wins and 5 losses in 22 games. He wants to get off to a good start this season and contribute to the team. In the batting lineup, Toshiki Abe has been in great form, hit seven consecutive games since the start of the season.

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham 's Yuki Nomura is one to watch. He started the season as the No. 4 batter and recorded 7 hit in 19 At Bat and 3 Home Run in 5 games, but was hit in the previous game Orix. He was also left out of starting line-up in the game on the 5th, so there are concerns, but he hopes to live up to his calling and do his job as the No. 4 batter. Starting pitcher Hiromi Ito was in poor form in his last appearance, giving up 5 runs in 5 innings. Will he be able to correct this and get his first win of the season?

Text by Minami Niwa

・ Pacific League standings /individual results