On July 8, in the 13th round between Chiba Lotte Marines and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham held in Zozo Marine Stadium, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham win 7-2.

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Takayuki Kato pitcher as starter, gave up hit in the first inning but finished with no runs. However, in the bottom of the second, Atsuki Tomosugi and Toshiya Sato in the bottom of the third gave up two runs. He finished with three batters in the fourth and fifth innings, but was pulled in the bottom of the sixth with one out and runners on first and second. The Kenta Uehara pitcher that followed him escaped with no runs.

In the top of the second inning, Kengo Yoshida hit his seventh solo home run to take the lead. In the top of the sixth, with the score tied, Yuki Nomura hit his 11th two-run homer, taking the lead. The momentum didn't stop, and in the top of the seventh, Chusei Mannami hit his 17th three-run homer, followed by Yoshida's eighth solo homer, widening the lead to 7-2.

In the bottom of the 7th, Seigi Tanaka pitcher, and in the bottom of the 8th, Taisei Yanagawa pitcher connected with no runs despite carrying runner. In the bottom of the 9th, Kota Tatsu pitcher retired all three batters in order to close the game. Starting pitcher pitcher Kato recorded 77 pitches and 9 hit no walks in 5.1 innings, Hit by Pitch 1 strike out 2 runs, marking the league's top 9th win. The lineup won convincingly, scoring 13 hit and 7 runs, including Yoshida hitting 2 Home Run.

For the losing Chiba Lotte Marines, starting pitcher Tokito Kawamura pitcher pitched 82 pitches over 5 innings, throwing 6 hit 2 Walk 1 runs, but the relievers pitched 6 runs. The lineup included two hit by Sato and Tomosugi for a total of 9 hit, but managed only 2 runs.

123456789 total
Day 010002400 7
Ro 011000000 2

Japan ○ Takayuki Kato-Kenta Uehara-Seigi Tanaka-Taisei Yanagawa-Kota Tatsu
Ro Tokito Kawamura- ● Fumiya Ono-Keisuke Sawada-Shunsuke Nakamori- Castillo

Text by Mao Tsutsui