Orix Buffaloes vs Rakuten Gold. Eagles

Orix struck first against the rookie. Leadoff batter Sō Munetaka ripped a triple to right-centre on the second pitch he saw from Itō, and Kūrai Ryōto followed with an RBI triple of his own — a drive to the right-field wall — to put the Buffaloes up 1-0 before Itō had recorded an out.

Itō settled immediately, retiring the next three hitters to strand Kūrai at third. Through five innings, the 23-year-old Waseda University alumnus held Orix to that one run on four hits, walking four and striking out two on 85 pitches. He induced a double-play grounder from Nakashima in the third to escape a leadoff single, and left the bases loaded in the fourth when he struck out Murabayashi swinging.

Rakuten's breakthrough came in the sixth. Orix starter Kuri Yūki, who had held the Eagles to three singles through five innings, walked Nakajima and Tatsumi on 3-2 counts to open the frame. Muneyama Munetaka greeted reliever Tomiyama with a two-run ground-rule double to right-centre, putting Rakuten ahead 2-1. After McCusker walked, Murabayashi Itsuki doubled off the left-field wall to score Muneyama. YG Yasuda punched an RBI single through the middle, and the Eagles led 4-1 after a four-run, three-hit inning.

Yasuda added an exclamation point in the ninth, crushing a solo home run to right field off Orix reliever Iwasaki — his fifth of the season — to make it 5-1.

The sixth-inning sequence flipped the game entirely. Kuri (5.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 6 K on 102 pitches) had been in control until consecutive walks to the bottom of the order forced his removal. Rakuten sent eight men to the plate against Kuri and Tomiyama, and the four-run outburst turned a 1-0 deficit into a three-run lead — more than enough for a bullpen that had been tagged for 13 earned runs over the previous four games.

Itō Itsuki, Rakuten (W, 1-0): In his first professional start after one prior relief appearance (6 June vs Hanshin), the draft-2 pick allowed one run on four hits over five innings with four walks and two strikeouts. Three of his four walks came with two outs, and he stranded five Orix baserunners.

Muneyama Munetaka, Rakuten: The Meiji University rookie delivered the go-ahead two-run double in the sixth and finished 1-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch and two RBIs.

YG Yasuda, Rakuten: 2-for-4 with two RBIs and his fifth home run of the season. His sixth-inning single drove in the fourth run, and his ninth-inning blast provided the final margin.

Kuri Yūki, Orix (L, 8-9): Held Rakuten to three singles through five frames but ran out of gas. The 102-pitch effort included six strikeouts but five walks, dropping him to 8-9 on the season.

Rakuten's relief corps of Suzuki Shō (1 IP), Kutani (1 IP, 3 K), Kajiya (1 IP) and Nishiguchi (1 IP, 2 K) combined for four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five. The Buffaloes managed only two baserunners after the sixth.

Rakuten scored five runs on just six hits while drawing six walks — an efficiency built on patience at the plate. Orix also collected six hits but left nine runners on base, going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position after the first inning. Both teams played error-free defence. The game lasted 2 hours 57 minutes in front of 25,018 at Kyocera Dome Osaka.

Rakuten (sixth in the Pacific League) snapped a four-game losing streak — their longest slide since late July — and improved to 10-9 against Orix this season. The Eagles' 1-0 start to this series gives them a chance to win consecutive games for the first time since 16-17 August. Orix (fourth) dropped to 8-11 in the season series. The teams meet again on 26 August at Kyocera Dome for Match 20.

Itō's debut start was not overpowering but it was effective — he bent without breaking, and the offence rewarded him with a four-spot the moment Kuri faltered. For a Rakuten side that had lost four straight, a composed rookie start and a shutdown bullpen is exactly the formula they needed.