OSAKA (Interstat) — Tatsuki Itoh pitched five effective innings and Yuma Yasuda drove in two runs with a single and a solo home run as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles defeated the Orix Buffaloes 5-1 on Tuesday evening at Osaka Dome.

Itoh, a right-hander, allowed one run on four hits and struck out two over five innings to earn his first win of the season. He walked two and kept the Buffaloes off the board after the opening frame. The Rakuten bullpen took it from there, with Naoto Nishiguchi, Ryu Kutani, Sora Suzuki and Ren Kajiya combining for four scoreless innings. Nishiguchi and Kutani each struck out two and three batters, respectively, in their one-inning stints, while Suzuki and Kajiya worked the final two innings and allowed one hit apiece.

Allen Kuri started for Orix and took the loss, falling to 8-9. He allowed four runs on four hits over 5 1/3 innings, walking three and striking out six. Three Orix relievers, Ryoga Tomiyama, Reiji Higashiyama and Taisuke Yamaoka, finished the game, with Tomiyama allowing one hit and striking out two in two-thirds of an inning, Higashiyama striking out one in a perfect inning, and Yamaoka striking out two in his one scoreless frame.

Rakuten, which improved to 44-67-1, managed only six hits in the game, but made them count. The Golden Eagles grounded into two double plays and struck out 10 times, yet their four-run sixth inning proved decisive. Orix fell to 55-58-2 with the loss.

The Buffaloes took the initial lead in the bottom of the first. Yuma Mune opened the inning with a triple to right-center, and Ryoto Kita followed with a triple to right field, scoring Mune to make it 1-0. Kita was left stranded at third after Ryoma Nishikawa flied out to shortstop, Ryo Ohta grounded out to third and Kotaro Kurebayashi walked to put runners on the corners with two outs before Keita Nakagawa grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.

Itoh settled in from there. Orix loaded the bases in the second inning on a single by Tomoya Noguchi, a groundout that moved him to second, a walk to Mune and another walk to Kita with two outs, but Kita struck out looking to end the threat. In the fourth, Noguchi singled with one out, and a two-out walk to Mune put runners on first and second, but Kita grounded out to second to close the inning. The Buffaloes threatened again in the fifth when Nishikawa flied out to right and Ohta lined out to second, but Kurebayashi struck out swinging to finish the frame.

Rakuten’s breakthrough came in the sixth. Fumiya Kurokawa grounded out to first to start the inning, but Daisuke Nakashima walked and Ryosuke Tatsumi followed with a walk to put two runners on with one out. Rui Muneyama then doubled to right-center, scoring both Nakashima and Tatsumi to tie the game at 2-0. Carson McCusker walked to put two runners on base again, and Itsuki Murabayashi doubled to left field to bring home Muneyama and give Rakuten a 3-1 lead. Yasuda followed with a single to shallow center, scoring McCusker and making it 4-1. Tsubasa Yoshinoh and Kengo Horiuchi both struck out swinging to end the inning, but the damage was done.

The ninth inning provided an insurance run. Yasuda led off against Yamaoka and hit a solo home run to right field, his second hit of the game, extending the lead to 5-1. Naoki Sato flied out to left, Horiuchi struck out looking and Kurokawa grounded out to shortstop to end the frame.

Orix’s last chance came in the bottom of the ninth. Ryoma Yamanaka struck out swinging, Tomoya Noguchi struck out looking, and Shuna Hori grounded out to shortstop to end the game. The final out came on a ground ball to short, sealing Rakuten’s victory.

The game took 2 hours, 57 minutes and drew an announced attendance of 25,018.

The win snapped Rakuten’s two-game losing streak and gave the Golden Eagles their second victory in their last five games. Rakuten had lost three of four entering the game, including a pair of extra-inning losses to the Saitama Seibu Lions over the weekend. The Golden Eagles fell 3-1 in 11 innings on Sunday and 2-0 on Saturday, and also dropped a 4-3 decision to the Chiba Lotte Marines on Thursday. They had beaten the Marines 5-2 and 6-2 on Wednesday and Tuesday, respectively.

Orix, meanwhile, had won four of its previous five games, including a sweep of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks over the weekend. The Buffaloes shut out the Hawks 3-0 on Sunday and lost 7-1 on Saturday, but had taken two of three from the Seibu Lions earlier in the week. Orix had also won three straight games from Aug. 12-14 against Rakuten before the current series.

The two teams continue their three-game series Wednesday at Osaka Dome. Rakuten then travels to face the Seibu Lions, while Orix hosts the Softbank Hawks.

The loss was the second for Orix in three meetings against Rakuten this week, but the Buffaloes still hold the season series lead, having taken six of the first nine matchups. Rakuten’s win Tuesday was its third in the previous four meetings with Orix, after dropping the prior two series to the Buffaloes.

Yasuda’s home run was his first in the series and gave the Golden Eagles a two-run lead they would not relinquish. The four-run sixth inning marked Rakuten’s biggest single-inning output of the week, and the pitching staff did the rest. Itoh, who entered with no decisions on the season, outperformed Kuri, who had been solid for Orix in his previous starts.

Itoh threw 84 pitches, 52 of them strikes. He allowed a double to Noguchi in the second inning and a single to Noguchi in the fourth, but otherwise kept Orix off balance. He struck out Kita twice, including a called third strike in the second inning and a swinging strikeout in the seventh after departing. Mune went 1-for-2 with two walks, Kita went 1-for-4 with two RBIs, and Noguchi had two hits.

Rakuten’s bullpen allowed only two baserunners over the final four innings. Nishiguchi retired all three batters he faced in the seventh, striking out Yusuke Mugitani, Mune and Kita. Kutani struck out the side in the eighth, fanning Nishikawa, Ohta and Kurebayashi. Suzuki allowed a leadoff single to Noguchi in the sixth but then picked him off first base, a key play that kept the game at 4-1 entering the seventh. That pickoff was one of several standout defensive plays in the game, along with a double play turned by the Rakuten middle infield in the first inning.

Rakuten also turned a double play in the third inning when Nakashima grounded out to third baseman Muneyama, who threw to second to force Kurokawa. The Golden Eagles grounded into two double plays themselves, but their offense was efficient when it mattered. The six hits included two doubles and a home run, and the team drew five walks.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Orix Buffaloes 4, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 3. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Orix with a 58.30 percent probability to win.