OSAKA (Interstat) — Anderson Espinoza allowed two earned runs over 5 1/3 innings, and Andres Machado closed the ninth as Orix defeated Rakuten 5-3 on Saturday afternoon at Osaka Dome. Orix scored twice in the first, once in the second and twice in the sixth. Rakuten scored twice in the fifth and once in the seventh. Espinoza walked five and struck out four while improving to 12-5. Machado earned his 31st save with a scoreless inning. Takahisa Hayakawa took the loss after yielding three earned runs in five innings, falling to 6-8. Ryoma Nishikawa hit a two-run homer, and Kenya Wakatsuki drove in two runs for the Buffaloes. Rakuten’s Hiroto Kobukata doubled home two runs, and Ryosuke Tatsumi added an RBI single. Masaya Nishigaki struck out two in a scoreless inning of relief. Orix outhit Rakuten 10-8 and grounded into two double plays. The game drew 28,057 and lasted 3 hours, 8 minutes. Orix improved to 61-67-2, while Rakuten fell to 47-78-1.