◆ Pacific League Orix Buffaloes 3-1 Rakuten Eagles (May 5th, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

Orix Buffaloes 's Espinoza earned his 10th win of the season, the first time a foreign player for the team has achieved this feat in 20 years, tying him with Takashi Kato (Nippon-Ham) for the league lead. Despite allowing runner on base in every inning except the 5th, pitch a tenacious 7 innings, giving runs only one run. This marks his fourth consecutive win, a remarkable achievement not seen since Davey in 2006.

The offense took the lead in the first inning with Nishikawa's 7th home run of the season, and after being tied in the 4th inning, they regained the lead on Nakagawa's groundout to second base. In the 7th inning, Wakatsuki added another run with a sacrifice fly to left field. From the 8th inning onwards, the winning pattern of Mukunoki-Machado provided perfect relief. They won the series against Rakuten Eagles and are now one win above .500.