The second game between Orix Buffaloes and Tohoku Rakuten Eagles will be held at Kyocera Dome Osaka on March 28th at 2 PM.

[Head-to-head record] Orix Buffaloes (tied for 4th place) vs. Tohoku Rakuten Eagles (tied for 1st place): 0 wins, 1 loss

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Orix Buffaloes: pitcher Alen Kuri, 25 games, 11 wins, 8 losses, 2.41 ERA (last season)
Tohoku Rakuten Eagles: Ryota Takinaka pitcher 15 games, 4 wins, 9 losses, 3.44 ERA (last season)

Orix Buffaloes 's starting pitcher will be Aren Alen Kuri. Last season, he appeared in 6 games against Tohoku Rakuten Eagles, with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses and ERA of 1.87. Expectations are high for him to deliver a strong performance to break the negative momentum from the previous game. In the batting lineup, keep an eye on Ryoma Nishikawa. In the previous game, where he started as the "number 2 hitter and left fielder," he hit the team's first hit of the game, doble in the bottom of the 4th inning. He will be looking to contribute offensively again in this game.

Tohoku Rakuten Eagles will start pitcher Ryota Takinaka. In the preseason, he started three games, with a record of 0 wins and 1 loss and an ERA of 2.87. He did not face Orix Buffaloes last season, so it will be interesting to see what kind of pitch he will deliver in this game. In the batting lineup, keep an eye on Voit. He struggled in the preseason with a batting average of .186, but in the previous game, he contributed to win with two extra-base hits.

Written by Riyoko Niwa