The 12th game of the series between Chiba Lotte Marines and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham will be held at Zozo Marine Stadium on July 7th at 6 PM.

[Head-to-head record] Chiba Lotte Marines (5th place) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham (3rd place): 4 wins, 7 losses

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Chiba Lotte Marines: pitcher Jackson, 13 games, 5 wins, 5 losses, ERA 3.28
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham: pitcher Koki Kitayama, 13 games, 8 wins (tied for 1st), 2 losses, ERA 1.98 (3rd)

Chiba Lotte Marines 's starting pitcher Jackson has posted an excellent record in June, with 3 wins and 0 losses and ERA of 1.50 in 4 games. In their previous encounter with Hokkaido Nippon-Ham (May 12th), he pitched 7.2 innings, allowing 4 hit, 1 Hit by Pitch strike out 8, and giving up 3 runs, but still suffered a loss. Will he be able to pitch well again and get his revenge? Among fielder, Ryusei Terachi was registered with the first team on June 30th. Since then, he has performed well in 5 games, with 4 hit 5 Walk in 15 At Bat-bats, for an on-base percentage of .450.

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham will start pitcher Koki Kitayama, who is currently on a seven-game winning streak. In their previous encounter with Chiba Lotte Marines (June 23rd), he pitched nine innings, throwing 105 pitches, allowing only three hit, no Hit by Pitch strike out nine, and giving up no runs, marking his second shutout game win of the season. In the batting lineup, Tatsuki Mizuno is in good form, with a batting average of .338 in June and six hit in four games in July.

Text by Ryohei Shoji