The 14th game between Orix Buffaloes and the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles will be held at Kyocera Dome Osaka on August 5th at 6 PM.

[Head-to-head record] Orix Buffaloes (4th place) vs. Tohoku Rakuten Eagles (6th place): 5 wins, 8 losses

[Announced Starting Pitcher]
Orix Buffaloes: pitcher Espinoza, 15 games, 9 wins, 3 losses, ERA 2.32
Tohoku Rakuten Eagles: Ryota Takinaka pitcher 13 games, 5 wins, 4 losses, ERA 2.51

Orix Buffaloes 's starting pitcher Espinoza, who also delivered an impressive performance in the All-Star Game. He is currently in good form, having pitched three consecutive quality starts, including a win in his last start (July 21st against Fukuoka Softbank) where he allowed only 4 hit 1 runs in 7 innings. This will be their first matchup against Tohoku Rakuten Eagles since June 27th. He will be looking to deliver a stable pitch in this game as well and achieve his first double-digit win. In the batting lineup, keep an eye on Ryoto Kita, who contributed to win in the previous game with 3 hit, including 2 Home Run, and 5 RBI despite coming on as a substitute.

On the other hand, Tohoku Rakuten Eagles 's Daisuke Nakashima is maintaining his good form. He started the season with the first team but was removed from the roster in mid-June due to poor performance. However, he was recalled at the end of the month and has since posted a monthly batting average of .313 in July and .462 so far in August, showing his presence even during the summer months when fatigue is likely to show. In this game, the question is whether he can lead the offense as the leadoff hitter and provide early support for pitcher Ryota Takinaka.