OSAKA, Japan (Interstat) — Tatsuki Itoh threw five innings of four-hit ball and Yuma Yasuda homered and drove in two runs as the Rakuten Golden Eagles defeated the Orix Buffaloes 5-1 on Tuesday night at Osaka Dome.

Rakuten erased an early deficit with four runs in the sixth. Rui Muneyama doubled in two, Itsuki Murabayashi doubled in one and Yasuda singled in another. Yasuda added a solo homer in the ninth. Orix scored in the first when Ryoto Kita tripled in a run. Each team collected six hits. Rakuten grounded into two double plays.

Itoh (1-0) allowed one earned run and struck out two. Allen Kuri (8-9) took the loss, surrendering four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings with six strikeouts. Rakuten relievers Ryu Kutani, Naoto Nishiguchi, Sora Suzuki and Ren Kajiya combined for scoreless relief; Kutani struck out three over one inning. Orix relievers Taisuke Yamaoka, Ryoga Tomiyama and Reiji Higashiyama each worked scoreless innings.

The win lifted Rakuten to 44-67-1. Orix fell to 55-58-2. Attendance was 25,018 and the game lasted 2 hours, 57 minutes.