The 13th game between Chiba Lotte Marines and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham will be held at Zozo Marine Stadium on July 8th at 6 PM.

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

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Chiba Lotte Marines: Tokito Kawamura pitcher 3 games, 1 win, 1 loss, ERA 3.50
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters: Takayuki Kato pitcher) 12 games, 8 wins (tied for 1st), 1 loss, ERA 2.50

Chiba Lotte Marines will start pitcher Tokito Kawamura. In their previous encounter with Hokkaido Nippon-Ham (June 24th), he suffered a loss, giving up 6 hit 9 runs in 5 innings. However, in his last start (June 1st against Tohoku Rakuten Eagles), he pitched well, giving up 6 hit 2 Hit by Pitch batsmen in 7 innings without runs, so he will be looking for revenge in this game. In the batting lineup, Misho Nishikawa hit a bases loaded slam, his 7th of the season, the day before, hit in 4 games.

Facing them is Hokkaido Nippon-Ham 's starting pitcher, Takayuki Kato who is currently on a six-game winning streak. In his last start (on the 1st against Orix Buffaloes), he pitched a complete game, throwing 108 pitches, allowing only 3 hit Hit by Pitch hit batsmen, strike out giving up no runs, earning his first shutout game win of the season and marking his third consecutive quality start. In the batting lineup, Reyes has hit multiple hits in two consecutive games.

Text by Rian Ueno