SAPPORO, Japan (Interstat) — The Saitama Seibu Lions visit the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters on Friday evening at Sapporo Dome in a Pacific League clash featuring two pitchers who have already traded blows this season.

Seibu (22-17-1) enters the 7 p.m. start riding a wave of strong pitching. The Lions have won four straight and seven of their last eight, including a 2-1 victory Wednesday at SoftBank. Right-hander Kona Takahashi has been the catalyst, winning his past four decisions. In his last outing May 13, he threw a complete game, allowing one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts. He also shut out Nippon-Ham on April 29, yielding four hits over seven innings in a 3-0 Lions win.

Nippon-Ham (20-21) has lost two of three but remains competitive in the standings. The Fighters dropped a 5-3 decision Thursday at Lotte, but right-hander Haruki Hosono takes the mound. Hosono’s recent outings have been mixed. He allowed four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings Thursday, but on April 28 he held Seibu to one hit over 7 2/3 innings in a 2-1 victory, striking out six.

The season series is split, with Nippon-Ham taking two of three in Saitama from April 28-30, including a 3-2 win in 11 innings on April 30. The Lions, however, won 15-3 in Sapporo on April 19.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 7-5 Lions victory, but its ELO system gives Nippon-Ham a 61 percent probability to win. The Fighters are installed as -1.5 favorites on the run line, with the over/under set at 7.0.

Takahashi’s dominance against both SoftBank and Nippon-Ham suggests Seibu has the edge on the mound. Hosono will need to recapture his April form against a Lions lineup that has scored six or more runs in five of its last eight games.

The teams continue the three-game series Saturday and Sunday before diverging schedules. Seibu hosts Chiba Lotte on Tuesday, while Nippon-Ham welcomes Tohoku Rakuten.