OSAKA (Interstat) — Anderson Espinoza pitched into the sixth inning, Ryoma Nishikawa hit a two-run homer in the seventh and the Orix Buffaloes held off the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 5-3 on Saturday afternoon at Osaka Dome in Osaka, Japan. The Pacific League game drew an announced crowd of 28,057 and took 3 hours, 8 minutes. Orix improved to 61-67-2, while Rakuten dropped to 47-78-1. Espinoza earned the win to move to 12-5. Takahisa Hayakawa took the loss and fell to 6-8. Andres Machado recorded his 31st save.

Espinoza worked 5 1/3 innings and allowed three hits, two earned runs, five walks and four strikeouts. He navigated early traffic and benefited from Orix’s defense, which turned two double plays. Hayakawa lasted five innings and gave up nine hits, three earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts. Rakuten’s bullpen kept the game within reach, with Masaya Nishigaki striking out two in a hitless inning and Jose Urena adding a hitless inning.

Both starters began efficiently. Espinoza retired the first three Rakuten hitters in order in the first, getting Daisuke Nakashima on a swinging strikeout before Hiroto Kobukata and Rui Muneyama grounded out. Espinoza then struck out two in a 1-2-3 second. Hayakawa matched him early, retiring Orix in order in the first on a groundout, a flyout and a groundout.

Orix opened the scoring in the second. Kotaro Kurebayashi singled to shallow right with one out, and Yutaro Sugimoto followed with a single to shallow right. Kenya Wakatsuki then doubled to right-center, driving in two runs. Wakatsuki finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs. The Buffaloes added a run in the third after Ryoma Nishikawa walked, Koji Ohshiro singled to shallow center and Yuma Mune singled to shallow right. Kurebayashi delivered again with a single to shallow left that scored one run, making it 3-0. Orix left the bases loaded when Ryoto Kita struck out looking and Sugimoto struck out swinging.

Rakuten’s offense struggled against Espinoza through the first five innings. The Golden Eagles went down in order in the first, second and third. They threatened in the fourth when Rui Muneyama walked and Carson McCusker doubled to left-center, but the inning ended without a run. In the fifth, Ryosuke Tatsumi walked, but Yuya Ogoh grounded out and the runner was caught stealing at second.

The Golden Eagles broke through in the sixth. Kohtaro Komori grounded out to second, but Fumiya Kurokawa walked and Daisuke Nakashima singled to shallow right. Hiroto Kobukata then doubled to left-center, scoring two runs and cutting the Orix lead to 3-2. Rakuten loaded the bases later in the inning when Muneyama and McCusker drew walks, but Yuma Yasuda struck out swinging and Tatsumi flew out to left.

Orix’s bullpen took over from there. Ren Mukunoki pitched a scoreless inning with one hit and one walk. Daiki Tajima recorded two outs with one strikeout. Soichiro Yamazaki allowed one run over an inning with two hits and two strikeouts. Machado finished with a scoreless ninth despite allowing two hits.

The decisive swing came in the seventh. Haruto Watanabe led off with a walk, and Nishikawa lined a home run to right. The two-run shot pushed the Orix lead to 5-2. Nishikawa went 1 for 3 with the homer and two RBIs. Espinoza was the winning pitcher, and the homer gave the Buffaloes enough cushion after Rakuten had closed the gap.

In the fourth, Wakatsuki and Haruto Watanabe singled, but Nishikawa lined out and Ohshiro grounded into a shortstop-to-second-to-first double play. Orix put a runner on in the sixth when Kita reached on an error, but Sugimoto grounded into a double play and Wakatsuki flew out to center. The Buffaloes also went quietly in the eighth when Kurebayashi struck out, Kita grounded out and Sugimoto struck out.

Rakuten answered in the eighth. Muneyama doubled down the right-field line, and after McCusker struck out and Yasuda flew out, Tatsumi singled to shallow right to score one run. That made it 5-3. Ogoh struck out swinging to end the inning. In the ninth, Yoshiaki Watanabe singled to third and Nakashima singled to shallow center, putting two runners on with one out. Machado responded by retiring Kobukata on a flyout to center and Muneyama on a groundout to second.

Nakashima and Kobukata combined for key hits in the loss. Kobukata drove in two runs with his double, while Tatsumi added an RBI single. Muneyama reached base multiple times and scored. For Orix, Wakatsuki’s two-run double in the second and Nishikawa’s two-run homer in the seventh were the biggest offensive moments. Kurebayashi also drove in a run, and Ohshiro and Mune helped build the third-inning rally.

Espinoza’s line was 5 1/3 innings, three hits, two earned runs, five walks and four strikeouts. Machado worked one inning and allowed two hits with no earned runs. Nishigaki struck out two in a hitless inning. Hayakawa allowed nine hits and three earned runs over five innings. Mukunoki gave up one hit and one walk in a scoreless inning. Tajima retired both batters he faced, striking out one. Urena pitched a hitless inning. Yamazaki allowed two hits and one earned run while striking out two.

The win improved Orix’s home form and kept the Buffaloes moving in the Pacific League standings. Rakuten remained near the bottom of the league and continued a difficult road stretch. The Golden Eagles had entered the game after a loss at Chiba Lotte and will next host Saitama Seibu. Orix will next host Fukuoka SoftBank.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Orix 3, Rakuten 2. Its ELO system had given Orix a 56.6 percent probability to win. The actual result exceeded that projection, as Orix scored five runs on 10 hits while Rakuten finished with three runs on eight hits.