Nippon Professional Baseball Odds, Picks & Best Bets for July 7: Swallows Set to Soar with Suarez

• Swallows pitcher Albert Suarez looks to continue dominant 2020 against Chunichi
• Seibu Lions should be confident of getting back to winning ways against Chiba
• See odds and best bets for all the Nippon Professional Baseball for July 7

With Japanese baseball set to allow up to 5,000 fans into stadiums by the end of the week, home-field advantage might yet become a factor in the 2020 season.

Of course, it’s anyone’s guess as to how many fans will want to come out to the games, but with teams set to play out their last few games in empty facilities, it’s still the 10-4-1 Yomiuri Giants leading the way in the Central Division. Over in the Pacific Division, the 11-4 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles took five of six from the Chiba Lotte Marines to overtake them at the top of the standings.

Chiba will now be looking to stem the bleeding with a six-game series against the Seibu Lions, who will have designs on capitalizing on a demoralized opponent. Before we get to that though, here’s a look at all of Tuesday’s odds.

NPB Odds: July 7th

Odds as of July 6th

Suarez Will Have Swallows Singing

Two starts. Eleven innings. One earned run. Two wins.

To say that the early returns on Albert Suarez’s 2020 season have been good would be an understatement.

NPB starting pitchers announced for Jul 07 #npb pic.twitter.com/0yodGITlhH

— NPB on reddit (@NPB_Reddit) July 6, 2020

The former San Francisco Giants right-hander has now pitched 28.2 innings over two seasons with the Tokyo Swallows; he has 3-1 record and a 1.26 ERA to show for it. On top of that, he’s only given up one home run over that span.

While the Swallows have had an up-and-down season so far, as their 7-7 record shows, the right-handed ace can get them back to winning ways after Sunday’s 8-1 loss to Yokohama.

In response, Chunichi will send Yuya Yanagi up to pitch on Tuesday. The right-hander is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA across 13 innings in 2020. In his fourth year in NPB, the 26-year-old is 15-17 with 3.95 ERA. The Dragons (7-8) are one place below Tokyo in the Central Division, having played a game more, but while their defense has been better, their offensive output has been substantially worse, with the Swallows holding a 65-52 edge in runs scored.

Pick: Swallows (-110); +1.5 (-210)

Lions Look To Gain Ground

Seibu enters a six-game series at the Chiba Lotte Marines looking up at its opponent in the standings, but not by much mind. At 7-7, the Lions are well within striking distance of the 9-6 Marines, despite both teams coming into the series winless in three games.

NPB standings through Jul 5 https://t.co/tnaDrNMR6P #npb pic.twitter.com/YLe0ERSkoh

— NPB on reddit (@NPB_Reddit) July 5, 2020

But while the Lions were very much in their contests with the Orix Buffaloes, posting a 0-2-1 records with 12 runs scored, the Marines lost all of their last three and mustered just three runs in total.

[Jul 5] Rakuten Eagles vs Lotte Marines game highlights from Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi https://t.co/BtXqepmnTb via @PacificleagueTV #npb

— NPB on reddit (@NPB_Reddit) July 5, 2020

Adding to Chiba’s problems is that it will send relief pitcher Yuki Ariyoshi to the mound for his first start of the season. The right-hander has pitched just two innings this season, and while he has no runs to his name, he has no strikeouts either. His career record in four NPB seasons is 8-12 with a 3.84 ERA.

The Lions counter with Kona Takahashi (2-0, 3.97 ERA). The right-hander is 26-24 in six seasons with Seibu and has a concerning 4.24 career ERA, yet given that Chiba has just 10 hits in its last three games, the hope is that the Marines will continue to struggle at the plate.

Pick: Lions (-130); U 8.5 (-115)