Hanshin and Hiroshima have a different pitching shape from their tight meeting at Koshien. Yuki Nishi is making his first start since early September in his final appearance, putting Hanshin's relief handoff at the center of this game. Hiroshima used five pitchers in the opener, while Hanshin made nine hits but brought home only two runners. Those two handoffs leave room for scoring beyond what the last result showed.
Nishi's last start lasted 3⅓ innings; he allowed seven hits and four runs. Shogo Tamamura has worked 78⅓ innings across 15 appearances this season, so Hiroshima has usually needed several innings from its bullpen behind him. In the opener, its starter worked two innings and the next pitcher worked three.
Hiroshima's bats were held to two hits by Kotaro Ohtake, but they also put six runs on Hanshin in their previous meeting and scored five late runs at Yakult. Hanshin's nine hits in the opener show that it found runners even when the final score stayed low. The way those chances meet the two pitching handoffs is the reason for this slip.
