OSAKA, Japan (Interstat) — The Orix Buffaloes host the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on Thursday night at Osaka Dome, with two starters meeting again just one day after dueling in the series opener.

Rakuten sends right-hander Ryota Takinaka to the mound. Takinaka took the loss Wednesday against Orix, allowing three earned runs over seven innings while striking out none in a 3-1 defeat. In his previous start July 26, he surrendered five earned runs over five innings in a 6-2 loss at Nippon-Ham. His best recent outing came July 14 against Orix, when he allowed one run over 6 2/3 innings with six strikeouts in a 3-1 victory.

Orix counters with right-hander Anderson Espinoza, who beat Rakuten on Wednesday, allowing one earned run over seven innings with four strikeouts in the 3-1 win. Espinoza has won his last three starts, also beating SoftBank on July 21 and Lotte on July 12. In those two games, he allowed one and two earned runs, respectively, each over seven innings.

Rakuten enters with a 36-58-1 record, while Orix is 49-48-2. The Golden Eagles have lost two straight, both to Orix, following an 0-5 stretch against SoftBank and Nippon-Ham. The Buffaloes have won four of their last five, including a 9-6 victory over Rakuten on Monday and Wednesday’s 3-1 win.

The teams have split their season series narrowly, with Orix winning seven of the 10 meetings listed. Rakuten’s most recent victory in the rivalry came July 16, a 12-8 home win. Orix took two of three from Rakuten in late June and has won four of the past five matchups overall.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 4-2 Orix victory. Its ELO system gives Orix a 60.10 percent probability to win. Orix is installed as a 1.5-run favorite, and the over/under is 7.5.

After Thursday’s game, Rakuten travels to Hokkaido for a three-game series against Nippon-Ham starting Friday. Orix heads to Chiba Lotte for a three-game set Friday. The teams will meet again Aug. 11-13 at Rakuten.