Preview: Orix Buffaloes at Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

FUKUOKA, Japan (Interstat) — The Pacific League’s top team hosts one of its hottest in a marquee weekend series opener Friday night when the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks welcome the Orix Buffaloes to Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome.

The first-place Hawks (13-4) carry the league’s best record but are looking to rebound after dropping two straight one-run decisions to the Rakuten Eagles earlier this week. They halted that skid emphatically Thursday behind a dominant pitching performance.

The visiting Buffaloes (10-7) arrive riding a three-game winning streak after sweeping the Saitama Seibu Lions, outscoring them 15-3 in the series.

The marquee matchup features two right-handers on contrasting runs of form. SoftBank will start Ryosuke Ohtsu, who is coming off perhaps the best outing of his season. On Thursday, Ohtsu fired seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out 11 in a 6-0 win over Rakuten. In his last three starts, he has two scoreless outings of seven innings each, compiling a 1.29 ERA over 21 innings in that span.

He will be opposed by Orix’s Naruki Teranishi, who also pitched Thursday. Teranishi earned the win against Seibu, allowing one run over six innings. His recent outings have been inconsistent, sandwiching that quality start between two rough appearances where he surrendered eight earned runs in 9 1/3 innings.

Offensively, the Hawks are powered by veteran designated hitter Yuki Yanagita, who drove in four runs Thursday. The Buffaloes’ offense during their sweep was sparked by shortstop Kotaro Kurebayashi, who had three RBIs in the series finale.

Despite SoftBank’s superior record and home-field advantage, projections present a conflicting outlook. Interstat’s game simulator predicts a narrow 5-4 victory for Orix. However, the same outlet’s ELO rating system gives the Hawks a 64.8% probability to win. Betting markets align with the latter, installing SoftBank as a -1.5 run favorite with an over/under of 7.5 runs.

The game begins a three-series-in-three-weeks stretch between the Pacific League rivals, who will meet again in Osaka at the end of the month.

First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. local time.