NPB Odds, Picks & Best Bets for July 10: Buffaloes Hoping Home Is Where the Wins Are

• Tohoku Golden Eagles continue offensive flourish with 9-1 win over Chiba Marines
• Orix Buffaloes aim to move out of basement with extended home stand
• See odds and best bets for all the Nippon Professional Baseball games on July 10

It’s still early days in Nippon Professional Baseball, but already the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles appear to be the dominant force in the Pacific Division. With 117 runs scored – 33 more than the next highest teams – Tohoku’s offense is soaring, and the Eagles now have a three-game lead at the summit.

Much further down reside the Orix Buffaloes, who are looking to string some wins together during a 12-game homestand. They could certainly benefit from another baserunning performance like Thursday’s when the team stole six bases in a game for the first time in 35 years, but at midway through their series with the Hokkaido Fighters, wins are at a premium.

Before getting to that game though, here’s a look at all of Friday’s schedule and odds for Japanese baseball.

NPB Odds: July 10th

Odds as of July 9th

Buffaloes Look for Home Comforts

Entering just their seventh home game of the season, it’s fair to say that the Orix Buffaloes should have a better record than their 5-11-1 mark. For instance, one look at the six one-run losses Orix has suffered shows that the team could quite easily be 11-5-1 instead.

https://twitter.com/tom_mussa/status/1281196817796005888?s=20

But the current stretch of home games – they are three games into a 12-game stand – should allow the Buffaloes to make a move. After a loss and a tie in the last two games, Orix will be looking to right-hander Tsubasa Sakakibara to help it do just that on Friday against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

NPB starting pitchers announced for Jul 10 #npb pic.twitter.com/BfL8taU0Of

— NPB on reddit (@NPB_Reddit) July 9, 2020

Sakakibara gave up just five hits and one earned run in the one game he’s pitched this season. He has a sparkling 2.81 career ERA in his three seasons of play in Nippon Professional Baseball.

https://twitter.com/tom_mussa/status/1281222532100751362?s=20

The Fighters, who are statistically worse than Orix both offensively and defensively, go with Kohei Arihara, who is 0-3 with a 4.95 ERA this year. The 27-year-old right-hander has dropped off substantially from 2019, when he was 15-8 with a 2.46 ERA.

Pick: Buffaloes (+105); O 7.5 (EVEN)

Can Tigers Break Out?

After three rain-outs in four games, no one could blame the Hanshin Tigers if they were getting a little stir-crazy. Hopefully they can harness that frustration and use it as they begin a three-game home set with the Yokohama BayStars.

The BayStars have been alternating wins and losses since their five-game win streak ended on June 27 in an 8-6 loss to this same Tigers squad. Yokohama won on Thursday as it happens.

Hanshin turns to Koyo Aoyagi for Friday’s contest; the right-hander will attempt to grab his second win of the season and lower his 0.75 ERA, if possible. He has surrendered just five hits and one earned run in 12 innings this year.

Koyo Aoyagi is fun out of the stretch pic.twitter.com/rcpZ59JSu3

— Daniel Brim (@DanielBrim) June 17, 2017

With a 19-20 career record, the 26-year-old has been remarkably consistent in his first four seasons, with an ERA of under 4.00 every year.

In response, Shinchi Ohnuki will take his turn in the Yokohama rotation. In just his second season in NPB, the right-hander has a 6-6 career record with a 4.97 ERA. Entering his second appearance of the year, Ohnuki has given up two earned runs in four innings thus far.

Pick: Tigers (-125); U 7.5 (-115)