The ninth game between Tohoku Rakuten Eagles and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham will be held at Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi on May 6th at 2 PM.

[Head-to-head record] Tohoku Rakuten Eagles (4th place) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham (5th place): 4 wins, 4 losses

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Tohoku Rakuten Eagles: Kenta Maeda pitcher 3 games, 0 wins, 2 losses, ERA 5.56
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham: pitcher Hiromi Ito 6 games, 2 wins, 2 losses, 3.99 ERA

Tohoku Rakuten Eagles 's starting pitcher Kenta Maeda, who is aiming for his first win since returning to NPB. In his last start (April 29 against Chiba Lotte Marines), after recovering from a right calf cramp, he suffered a disappointing loss, giving up 7 hit 5 runs in 4.0 innings. This will be his first home start in about a month, and we hope he will deliver a strong performance to help the team, which is aiming for its first three-game sweep against the same opponent this season and a return to a .500 winning percentage, secure win.

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham will entrust the final game of their nine-game series to pitcher Hiromi Ito. He has a good record against Tohoku Rakuten Eagles last season, with four wins and no losses in six games against them and ERA of 2.14. In his last start, he achieved his first quality start of the season with only one earned runs in seven innings, so his condition is improving. He will be looking to show his ace-like presence on mound for the third consecutive week with only five days of rest, and prevent a three-game losing streak.

Written by Ao Yokoyama