On May 16th at 14:00, the eighth round between Hokkaido Nippon-Ham and Saitama Seibu Lions will be held on ES CON FIELD.

[Head-to-head Record] Hokkaido Nippon-Ham (4th place) vs. Saitama Seibu Lions (2nd place) 3 wins, 4 losses

[Announced Starting Lineup]
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham: Takayuki Kato pitcher 6 games, 4 wins, 1 loss, ERA 2.43
Saitama Seibu Lions: Chihiro Sumida pitcher 6 games, 3 wins, 1 loss, ERA 3.20

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham 's starting pitcher was Takayuki Kato pitcher. In his previous appearance (Orix Buffaloes on the 9th), he pitched 8 innings with 90 pitches, 3 hit no walks Hit by Pitch 3 strike out no runs, earning his fourth win. Can he throw a long inning in this match and achieve his third consecutive win? The lineup went scoreless for a total of 2 hit in the previous game, but they want to support Takashi Kato pitcher centered around their main slugger Reyes.

On the other hand, Saitama Seibu Lions moved Chihiro Sumida pitcher to mound as their starting pitcher. In his previous appearance (against Tohoku Rakuten Eagles on the 8th), he recorded his third win with 7 hit 2 runs over 8 innings. Also, in their previous match on April 30, he pitched 112 pitches during the 8th inning, throwing 6 hit 2 Walk 9 strike out 2 runs (earned runs 1). With the pitch to create matches, they want to bring even more momentum to the seven-game winning team.

Text by Harukazu Sonoda