The 21st game between the Saitama Seibu Lions and the Tohoku Rakuten Rakuten Eagles will be held at Belluna Dome on August 29th at 5 PM.

[Head-to-head record] Saitama Seibu Lions (2nd place) vs. Tohoku Rakuten Eagles (6th place): 12 wins, 7 losses, 1 draw

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Saitama Seibu Lions: pitcher Chihiro Sumida 19 games, 8 wins, 6 losses, ERA 2.33
Tohoku Rakuten Eagles: Takahisa Hayakawa pitcher 17 games, 6 wins, 5 losses, ERA 2.61

Saitama Seibu Lions will start pitcher Chihiro Sumida. In his last start against Tohoku Rakuten Eagles on the 22nd, he pitched brilliantly, throwing 111 pitches over 8 innings, allowing only 3 hit strike out up no runs, earning win in about a month. The batting lineup has seen the return of several players who had been sidelined, including Shinya Hasegawa, Natsuo Takizawa, Masayuki Kuwahara, and Seiya Watanabe. An-Ko Lin hit his first Home Run since returning the previous day. Can they get the support of this reliable batting lineup and extend their winning streak?

Tohoku Rakuten Eagles pitcher Takahisa Hayakawa is win against Saitama Seibu Lions in three games this season, but has a good record against them, allowing only 4 runs (2 earned runs) in 22 inning. He has also pitched well in his last three starts, achieving a Quality Start, so we can expect another pitcher duel against pitcher this time around. Meanwhile, the batting lineup, which will be looking to provide run support, is in excellent form thanks to Rui Muneyama, who has a batting average of .333 with 3 home RBI and 11 Home Run in 24 games in August.

Written by Kai Nagi Niwa