On October 1st at 6 PM, the 24th game between Tohoku Rakuten Eagles and Fukuoka Softbank will be held at Rakuten Eagles Mobile Saikyo Park Miyagi.

[Head-to-head record] Tohoku Rakuten Eagles (6th place) vs. Fukuoka Softbank (1st place): 11 wins, 12 losses

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Tohoku Rakuten Eagles: Ryota Takinaka pitcher 19 games, 6 wins, 8 losses, 3.79 ERA
Fukuoka Softbank: Naoyuki Uwasawa pitcher 21 games, 9 wins, 4 losses, 2.45 ERA

Tohoku Rakuten Eagles will have pitcher Ryota Takinaka starting after 10 days of rest. In his previous start against Fukuoka Softbank, he gave up 3 runs in the 2nd inning, closer held them hit from the 3rd inning onward, finishing with 3 runs allowed in 5 innings. Can he pitch well from the start this time and shut down the powerful Hawks lineup? On the offensive side, Itsuki Murabayashi has a good record against Fukuoka Softbank, with a batting average of .346 and Home Run.

On the other hand, Fukuoka Softbank 's Tatsuya Tatsuru Yanagimachi is currently on a 10-game hit and has maintained his good form in September with a batting average of .390. He also delivered a timely hit in his previous encounter with pitcher Takinaka. He will be looking to lead the offense in this game as well and guide his team to a sixth consecutive win. Meanwhile, pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa, who is on a four-game winning streak, is aiming for double-digit win for the second year in a row.

Written by Kai Nagi Niwa