A showdown between two southpaw starting pitchers in the opening game! Looking back at the 2025 professional baseball game between Orix and Rakuten

A showdown between two of the Pacific League's top left-handed starting pitchers is set to take place.

Orix's starting pitcher will be Hiroya Miyagi, who suffered a loss in last season's opening game. He said he was "a little more relaxed than last year" about taking on the important role for the second year in a row, and all eyes will be on the new Miyagi, who has cut off his trademark long hair. For Rakuten's starting pitcher, Takahisa Hayakawa, last season's opening game was also a bitter memory, as he pitched well, giving up only one run in 7 2/3 innings, but was unexpectedly the losing pitcher. Using that frustration as motivation, the number 21 pitcher has maintained his place in the rotation throughout the year and has risen to become Rakuten's ace in both name and reality, and will take on one of the league's top left-handed pitchers in this showdown.

In the top of the first inning, Orix starter Miyagi got off to a great start. He struck out Rui Muneyama, a rookie hailed as the No. 1 player in amateur baseball and a ready-to-play prospect, giving him a taste of professional baseball. He then retired Yuya Kogo with a ground ball to third base, showing an excellent start to the game with three batters retired in order. Meanwhile, Rakuten starter Hayakawa also retired the side in order in the bottom of the inning, getting Keita Nakagawa and Yuma Mune to fly balls.

Orix takes the lead

With both starting pitchers getting off to a solid start, it seemed like the game would continue as a pitching duel, but in the bottom of the second inning, Hayakawa ran into trouble with the Orix offense. Nishikawa Ryoma broke his bat but managed a tenacious infield single to second base, and then Ota Ryo hit a perfect two-run home run to the upper deck of left field on a 1-0 count, a hit that he knew was a home run the moment it left the bat. Orix took a 2-0 lead. With two runs of support, Miyagi showed some great pitching in the top of the fourth inning. He struck out Rakuten's leadoff hitter, Kobukata Hiroto, with a 151 km/h outside fastball, and then threw an 85 km/h super slow curveball to Kogo, followed by a 152 km/h fastball on the outside corner. Kogo was completely unable to react to the 67 km/h speed difference and struck out looking on three pitches, keeping the score at 0 innings.

Rakuten's Hayakawa also recovered after the 3rd inning, and in the bottom of the 6th inning, he retired So, Kurebayashi Kotaro, and Sugimoto Yutaro with fly balls, keeping the score at 0-0 up to that point. Hayakawa left the mound after 6 innings, having given up 2 runs. In the bottom of the 7th inning, Orix attacked the shaky start of Rakuten's Nishiguchi Naoto, who had replaced Hayakawa. Leadoff hitter Nishikawa hit a single to center field, and Ota laid down a sacrifice bunt, putting a runner on first with no outs. Edward Olivares then struck out looking for the second out, but Tongu Yuma showed resilience, drawing a walk on the 9th pitch, putting runners on first and second with 2 outs, creating a golden opportunity to score additional runs. However, the next batter, Wakatsuki Kenta, hit a fly ball to center field for the third out. The score difference remained at 2 runs.

Rakuten fought back tenaciously to tie the game, but Orix won with a walk-off victory.

In the top of the 8th inning, Rakuten, who had been completely shut down by Orix's Miyagi up to this point, got their first hit when Ryosuke Tatsumi hit a weak ground ball to first base for an infield single. After that, Michael Franco hit a determined single to right field, and with one out and runners on first and third, Yukiya Ito hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring their long-awaited first run. Rakuten held Orix scoreless in the bottom of the 8th inning, and in the top of the 9th inning, they attacked pitcher Andres Machado, who had replaced the well-pitching Miyagi. After a double to left field by Toshiki Abe, Rakuten advanced the runner on a ground ball to second base, and with one out and a runner on third, Muneyama connected with a low pitch for his first professional hit, a timely hit to right field, and Rakuten finally tied the game at 2-2.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, with the score tied, Orix came to bat. After one out, Olivares hit a ball that bounced high down the third base line for an infield single. Under pressure, Koji Oshiro executed a perfect sacrifice bunt, putting a runner on second with two outs, creating a chance for a walk-off win. The next batter, Kenta Wakatsuki, hit a ball that split left-center field for a walk-off double. Miyagi did not get the win, but Orix defeated Rakuten 3-2 in their opening game of the season.

DAZN 'Pro Baseball Highlights: Opening Game - Orix vs. Rakuten, March 28th'
Release date: Friday, March 28, 2025

*The information in this article is current as of the time of publication.