The 18th game between Hokkaido Nippon-Ham and Fukuoka Softbank will be held at ES CON FIELD on August 18th at 2 PM.

[Head-to-head record] Hokkaido Nippon-Ham (3rd place) vs. Fukuoka Softbank (1st place): 3 wins, 14 losses

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham: pitcher Hiromi Ito 20 games, 8 wins, 7 losses, ERA 3.01
Fukuoka Softbank: pitcher Moinelo - 1 game, 1 win, 0 losses, 0.00 ERA

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham-Ham pitcher Hiromi Ito and Fukuoka Softbank pitcher Livan Moinelo faced each other six times last season. This game will be their first encounter of the season.

pitcher Ito has made five appearances against Fukuoka Softbank this season, but has struggled, recording only two quality starts and a 5.34 ERA against them. In their last encounter on August 4th, he was lose pitcher, but he showed his determination by hit seven innings, allowing eight hits, strike out eight, and giving up only one runs via sacrifice fly.

pitcher Moinelo made his first appearance in the first team this season on August 11 against Chiba Lotte Marines. He pitched 6 innings, allowing 4 hit strike out without runs, earning his first win of the season. Expectations are high for a nail-biting pitcher duel between him and pitcher Ito.

Among the batters, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham-Tatsuki Mizuno recorded multiple hit and multiple RBI in two consecutive games. In the game against Orix Buffaloes on August 15th, he hit a three-run homer, reaching his 10th home run of the season for the first time in his professional career.

Fukuoka Softbank 's Tomoya Masaki also had a good week last week, hitting 3 Home Run in 6 games. At ES CON FIELD, he had an outstanding record of 9 hit At Bat including 2 Home Run), for a batting average of .500 and an on-base percentage of .583.

Text by Ayako Kikuchi