SAPPORO, Japan (Interstat) — The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters will look to even their series with the Saitama Seibu Lions on Saturday evening at Sapporo Dome after dropping the opener.

The Fighters (8-10) fell 5-3 to the Lions (7-11-1) on Friday night. They will aim to rebound and improve their standing in the Pacific League against a Seibu squad that has won three of its last four.

A key matchup will feature Seibu’s hot-hitting Masayuki Kuwahara. The Lions’ left fielder powered Friday’s win, going 2 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs. He is 11 for 39 (.282) over his last 10 games with four multi-hit performances.

On the mound, the Fighters will rely on right-hander Koki Kitayama, who took the loss Friday despite a quality start. He allowed two earned runs over six innings. In his previous outing on April 8, he was dominant, throwing eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in a 1-0 win over Rakuten.

The Lions’ recent momentum is fragile, having lost three straight in Osaka to the Orix Buffaloes before Friday’s victory. The Fighters have also struggled for consistency, alternating wins and losses over their last six games.

According to Interstat’s game simulator, the Fighters are projected to win 4-3. The ELO system gives Nippon-Ham a 66.5% probability of victory. Betting markets list the Fighters as a -1.5 run favorite with an over/under of 6.5 runs.

Following Saturday’s contest, the two teams will conclude their three-game set on Sunday before embarking on series against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, respectively.