CHIBA (Interstat) — The Orix Buffaloes rallied from an early three-run deficit and defeated the Chiba Lotte Marines 6-4 on Tuesday night at Chiba Marine Stadium. The visiting Buffaloes improved to 64-71-2. The home Marines fell to 59-69-3. The game was played in the evening before 26,020 and took 3 hours, 21 minutes. Orix collected 10 hits, while Lotte had 6.

The Marines opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Koki Yamaguchi flied out to right, but Kyota Fujiwara drew a one-out walk. Misho Nishikawa flied out to left for the second out. Toshiya Satoh then singled to shallow right, moving Fujiwara to third. Ryusei Terachi followed with a single to shallow left that scored Fujiwara. Hisanori Yasuda grounded out to second to end the inning with Lotte ahead 1-0.

Orix wasted a chance in the top of the first. Ryoma Nishikawa struck out swinging, but Ryoto Kita walked. Ryo Ohta flied out to right, and Yuma Mune struck out swinging. The Buffaloes broke through in the top of the second when Kotaro Kurebayashi hit a home run to right-center. Tomoya Noguchi and Yusuke Mugitani struck out, and Ryoma Yamanaka grounded out to shortstop.

Lotte answered with two runs in the bottom of the second. Ryusei Ogawa walked, but Kouta Inoue struck out looking and Tsuyoshi Yamasaki grounded out to third. Koki Yamaguchi and Kyota Fujiwara then drew consecutive walks to load the bases. Misho Nishikawa singled to shallow left, scoring two runs. Toshiya Satoh flied out to second to end the inning with Lotte ahead 3-1.

Orix put together a threat in the third. Kenya Wakatsuki singled to shallow center, but Ryoma Nishikawa flied out to right, Ryoto Kita struck out swinging, and Ryo Ohta flied out to center. Lotte went down in order in the third on a flyout, a strikeout and a groundout.

The Buffaloes went quietly in the fourth. Yuma Mune struck out swinging, Kotaro Kurebayashi flied out to right, and Tomoya Noguchi struck out swinging. Lotte also went down in order in the fourth on a strikeout, a flyout and a groundout.

Orix cut the deficit in the fifth. Ryoma Yamanaka grounded out to second and Yusuke Mugitani grounded out to shortstop before Kenya Wakatsuki homered to left-center. Ryoma Nishikawa then grounded out to the pitcher. Lotte got a two-out single from Misho Nishikawa in the bottom of the fifth, but Toshiya Satoh struck out looking and Ryusei Terachi struck out swinging.

The Buffaloes tied the game in the sixth. Ryoto Kita led off with a solo home run to center. Ryo Ohta and Yuma Mune followed with singles, and Kotaro Kurebayashi sacrificed them into scoring position. Tomoya Noguchi then singled to the pitcher, scoring a run to give Orix the lead. Noguchi stole second, but Ryoma Yamanaka struck out swinging and Yusuke Mugitani grounded out to second. Lotte went down in order in the sixth on a strikeout and two flyouts.

Orix added two more in the seventh. Kenya Wakatsuki walked, and Ryoma Nishikawa singled to shallow right. Ryoto Kita flied out to shortstop, and Ryo Ohta struck out swinging. Yuma Mune then doubled to right-center, scoring two runs. Kotaro Kurebayashi walked, but Tomoya Noguchi struck out swinging to end the inning. Lotte threatened in the bottom of the seventh. Tsuyoshi Yamasaki flied out to left, but Koki Yamaguchi walked and Kyota Fujiwara singled. Misho Nishikawa flied out to shortstop, and Toshiya Satoh flied out to first.

Orix could not add to its lead in the eighth. Ryoma Yamanaka walked, but Yusuke Mugitani flied out to left and Kenya Wakatsuki struck out swinging. Ryoma Nishikawa singled to shallow center, and Haruto Watanabe stole second, but Ryoto Kita flied out to right. Lotte went down in order in the eighth on a strikeout and two flyouts.

In the ninth, Orix put two runners on but could not score. Ryo Ohta walked, Yuma Mune flied out to left, and Kotaro Kurebayashi walked. Tomoya Noguchi grounded out to first, and Ryoma Yamanaka struck out swinging. Lotte made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Neftali Soto flied out to center, and Kyuto Ueda grounded out to the pitcher. Koki Yamaguchi then hit a solo home run to center. Kyota Fujiwara struck out swinging to end the game.

Andre Jackson started for the Marines and pitched five innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs with one walk and seven strikeouts. Kaisei Toumatsu earned the win for Orix, improving to 1-0. He pitched five innings, allowed four hits and three earned runs, walked four and struck out six. Andres Machado recorded his 34th save, working one inning and allowing one hit and one earned run with one strikeout. Akira Yagi took the loss for Lotte and fell to 9-1.

Reiji Higashiyama pitched a scoreless inning for Orix with no hits and one strikeout. For Lotte, Koshiro Sakamoto allowed one hit over two-thirds of an inning with one strikeout and no earned runs. Naoya Masuda pitched one inning, allowing one hit and no earned runs with one walk and one strikeout. Hayato Miyazaki tossed one inning, allowing no hits and no earned runs with two walks and one strikeout. Ren Mukunoki worked one inning, allowing one hit and no earned runs with one walk. Kotaro Kurebayashi finished 1-for-2 with a home run, an RBI and two walks. Soichiro Yamazaki also threw a scoreless inning, giving up no hits and striking out one.

Orix and Lotte will meet again Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Chiba Marine Stadium. Orix entered the game after a 5-3 loss at Hokkaido Nippon Ham on Monday. Lotte was coming off a 0-0 tie against Saitama Seibu on Monday. Orix had won two of three in the most recent series between the teams, played Sept. 4-6 in Osaka.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chiba Lotte Marines 1, Orix Buffaloes 0. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Lotte with a 50.7 percent probability to win. Lotte had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 10 went under the over/under line of 7.5.