On August 2nd, the 16th game between Hokkaido Nippon-Ham and Chiba Lotte Marines, held at ES CON FIELD, ended with a 3-0 win for Hokkaido Nippon-Ham.

In the bottom of the second inning, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham offense took the lead when Kotaro Kiyomiya drew Walk and Naoki Arizono hit a timely doble. In the bottom of the third inning, they added another run with Reyes' 23rd home run of the season, a two-run shot.

Starting pitcher Kohei Arihara retired the side in order in the first inning with just four pitches, and after receiving run support, he held the opposing lineup to just three hit through eight innings, not allowing them to reach second base. He took mound in the ninth inning for the first time since returning to his former team, and closer the top of the opposing lineup in order to end the game with a 3-0 victory.

pitcher Arihara pitched a complete game shutout, throwing 100 pitches over 9 innings, allowing only 3 hits, no Hit by Pitch or hit batsmen hit out 9, strike out runs. This was his shutout game win since July 1, 2025. He is now just 3 strike out in NPB.

On the other hand, Chiba Lotte Marines, who were defeated, saw their starting pitcher Jackson give up runs early in the game, but he managed to limit the runs to 4 hit, 1 Walk 5 strike out 6 innings with 104 pitches. However, their offense failed to create any scoring opportunities and was held scoreless with only 3 scattered hit.

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● Jackson -Fumiya Ono-Keisuke Sawada
Japan ○ Kohei Arihara

Text by Kanako Fukushima