The 10th game between the Saitama Seibu Lions and Chiba Lotte Marines will be held at Jomo Shimbun Shikishima Stadium on May 19th at 6 PM.

[Head-to-head record] Saitama Seibu Lions (1st place) vs. Chiba Lotte Marines (6th place): 5 wins, 4 losses

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Saitama Seibu Lions: Natsuki Takeuchi pitcher 6 games, 2 wins, 2 losses, 3.63 ERA
Chiba Lotte Marines: pitcher Jackson has a record of 2 wins and 4 losses in 7 games, ERA of 4.33.

Saitama Seibu Lions Lions pitcher Natsuki Takeuchi will be making his first appearance in the first team since May 2nd. He had pitched in the farm league on the 10th, giving up only one hit and no runs in three innings, showing steady progress in his preparations. Can he pitch well in his first start in about two weeks? The team won their fifth consecutive series on the 17th, putting them in first place. The batting lineup is also in good form, led by players like Nevin and Taiga Hirasawa. They hope to continue their winning streak.

Chiba Lotte Marines 's starting pitcher will be Jackson. In his last start against Hokkaido Nippon-Ham, he pitched his longest outing of the season, going 7.2 innings, allowing only 4 hit, strike out 3 runs. This will be his first matchup against Saitama Seibu Lions this season, but last season, when he was with Yokohama DeNA, he faced them in an interleague game, pitching 6 innings, allowing only 2 runs, and pitcher win. Can he shut down the Lions' in-form offense?

Written by Kai Nagi Niwa