Historic Run Has Baystars in Line to Lose

In 2019, Hiroshima Carp left-hander Kris Johnson went 11-8 with a 2.59 ERA. This season is not going so well.
クリス・ジョンソン2019.03.12

• Yokohama Baystars have made history by alternating wins and losses for 15 straight games
• Hiroshima pitcher Kris Johnson still awaits first win of season but looks primed to break out
• See odds and best bets for all six Nippon Professional Baseball games on July 15

Consistency is key over a long baseball season, even in a pandemic-shortened one.

But surely nobody on the Yokohama Baystars expected this kind of consistency. Since a June 26 win over the Hanshin Tigers, Yokohama has flipped between winning and losing with perfect regularity, all the way to setting a new Nippon Professional Baseball record with Tuesday’s 5-3 win at Chunichi.

Read on to see whether they can bring that 15-game run to an end on Wednesday with a second straight W. First, here’s a look at the odds for the full slate of games on Wednesday, July 15th.

NPB Odds: July 15th

Odds as of July 14th.

Consistent Baystars Aim to Snap Historic Run

The 15-game run of consistency may have landed Yokohama in the NPB record books, but it’s probably not the kind of history that the Baystars were looking to make. To consolidate their spot among the top-three in the Central League – who move onto the playoffs – they will have to string some wins together..

Still, at 12-9, the Baystars are right in the mix in the Central, effectively tied with Yakult (11-8) and just half a game back of Yomiuri (11-7).

NPB standings through Jul 14 https://t.co/tnaDrNvgfh #npb pic.twitter.com/YMNGrz9b0H

— NPB on reddit (@NPB_Reddit) July 14, 2020

On Wednesday, they play the second of a six-game set at the Central’s bottom club, the Chunichi Dragons, owners of both the worst run differential in NPB (-37) and the worst team ERA (4.96).

Yokohama will go with Haruhiro Hamaguchi, who is 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA on the season, but has an awful 1.68 WHIP over his 19 innings. The fact he’s only given up one home run so far has certainly done a lot to keep his ERA down, certainly far lower than his career 3.46 ERA mark.

NPB starting pitchers announced for Jul 15 #npb pic.twitter.com/lX2h6VIoJl

— NPB on reddit (@NPB_Reddit) July 14, 2020

Chunichi is responding with Takahiro Matsuba, a 29-year-old left-hander who is making his 2020 debut, having gone 27-39 in his NPB career and with a 3.92 ERA.

Matsuba should help extend Yokohama’s historic run.

Pick: Chunichi Dragons (+150); O 7.5 (-115)

Will KJ Bounce Back for Carp?

Former Pittsburgh Pirate and Minnesota Twin Kris Johnson is not having his best season. In 17 innings, he’s only given up one home run, but his ERA is a subpar 4.76 and his WHIP (1.47) is concerning. He has yet to pick up a win.

This is a beautiful curveball from Kris Johnson. #Carp #広島 pic.twitter.com/pWi3CjZY1z

— Tom Mussa (@tom_mussa) June 23, 2020

The 35-year-old left-hander will be hoping Wednesday’s matchup with the first-place Yomiuri Giants will be the one that allows him to turn the corner. After all, in 2019, he went 11-8 with a 2.59 ERA.

The rest of his Carp teammates should be motivated too, after Tuesday’s 7-2 loss that gave Yomiuri skipper Tatsunori Hara his 1,035th career victory to move into second place on the all-time Giants list.

With the Yomiuri Giants’ win today, manager Tatsunori Hara has surpassed Shigeo Nagashima as 2nd all time in managerial wins with the team at 1,035! He is now only 31 wins away from tying the most winningest manager Tetsuharu Kawakami, who has 1,066 career wins. pic.twitter.com/2BeHRZERYr

— Tom Mussa (@tom_mussa) July 14, 2020

Going up against Johnson will be Shosei Togo (2-0, 2.77 ERA), a 20-year-old right-hander who is yet to taste defeat at the NPB level, going 3-0 in his career with a 2.49 ERA.

Pick: Carp (-115); U 7.5 (-115)

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