Let's dive in, shall we? If we look back to our previous encounters between these two titans of the diamond, our dear old Tigers seem to be clawing their victories out more often than not. Four times the Tigers have come out on top against their fire-breathing counterparts - the Dragons in their last five meetings.
Considering regular season records, the Tigers are clearly having a better time, boasting 14 wins against 9 losses. The Dragons, on the other hand, would need a map to find a victory – having only 9 wins with 12 losses. Quite underwhelming, to be brutally honest.
Now let's talk recent performance. Mariners... err, Tigers, pardon me (old habits die hard), have managed to keep their opponents on a tight leash, securing wins in all of their last five matches. To top it off, they've done so against both Erik Barnes and Yokohama DeNA BayStars – not your average bush league teams, my friends.
Our friends down at the Dragons aren't faring the same, I'm afraid. With only a single victory under their belt in the last five games – they need to do some serious reassessing, reassessing that perhaps involves a treasure map to find a victory.
All this considered, it's clear which team the deer... I beg your pardon, the beer monies should be placed on. Sorry about that folks, got a little lost in my own wild kingdom there. Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes...the prediction drumroll, please.
Albert’s Prediction: Hanshin Tigers by 3
