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NPB: Carp at Dragons

NAGOYA, Japan (Interstat) — The Hiroshima Toyo Carp visit the Chunichi Dragons on Friday evening at Nagoya Dome in a matchup of two Central League clubs near the bottom of the standings.

Hiroshima enters with a 30-41-4 record, while Chunichi sits at 30-48-3.

Players to Watch

Ryoji Kuribayashi, a pitcher for Hiroshima, took the loss Thursday against Yakult. He threw six innings, allowing five hits and one earned run while striking out two in a 1-0 defeat.

Yuya Yanagi, a pitcher for Chunichi, earned a win Thursday at Yokohama. He worked 5⅓ innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs with four strikeouts in a 4-3 victory. Yanagi also earned wins July 2 at Hanshin (7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 4 K) and June 21 at Yomiuri (5⅔ IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 8 K). He took a loss June 12 at Nippon-Ham (5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 5 K).

Head-to-Head

The Carp took two of three games in their last series at Chunichi from May 22-24, winning 5-3 in the final two contests after dropping the opener 6-2. The teams split a two-game set in Hiroshima on May 2-3, with Chunichi winning 4-0 and a 0-0 tie. Hiroshima took two of three from April 14-15, winning 5-2 and losing 6-2 before a 5-2 win in six innings. The Carp also won two of three in their season-opening series March 28-29, with 2-1 and 1-0 victories preceding a 0-0 tie overall at Hiroshima.

Recent Results

Hiroshima lost 1-0 to Yakult on Thursday. Besides Kuribayashi, pitchers Sotaro Shimauchi (1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 K) and Taiga Tsuji (1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 K) were productive. The Carp had won two straight against Yakult on July 7-8 by identical 4-3 scores, after splitting a four-game series at Hanshin from July 3-5 (5-1 win, 0-0 tie, 6-4 loss) and a two-game split at Yokohama on June 30 and July 2 (7-4 win, 3-3 tie in 12 innings). Hiroshima lost two of three to Hanshin at home from June 26-28 (0-0 tie, 3-2 win, 12-3 loss).

Chunichi won 4-3 at Yokohama on Thursday. In that game, first baseman Miguel Sano went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, and pitcher Shinya Matsuyama threw one shutout inning with two strikeouts. The Dragons had lost two straight at Yokohama on July 7-8 (4-0 and 4-3), after taking two of three at home from Yomiuri on July 3-5 (1-0, 2-1 wins, 1-0 loss) and splitting a three-game series at Hanshin from June 30-July 2 (3-2 win in 11, 0-0 tie, 3-2 loss in 10). Chunichi also lost two of three at Yakult from June 27-28 (0-0 tie, 4-3 loss, 4-3 loss).

Projection

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 4-3 Hiroshima victory. Interstat’s ELO system gives Chunichi a 52.00 percent probability to win.

Upcoming

The teams continue the three-game series Saturday and Sunday at Nagoya Dome before Hiroshima hosts Yokohama on Tuesday and Chunichi hosts Hanshin on Tuesday.