The Orix Buffaloes’ Kenya Wakatsuki hits a walk-off double against the Rakuten Eagles at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Nippon Professional Baseball’s season-opening day on March 28, 2025. (Kyodo)
OSAKA (Kyodo) — Kenya Wakatsuki hit a walk-off double to give the Orix Buffaloes a 3-2 victory over the Rakuten Eagles as Nippon Professional Baseball opened its 2025 season Friday.
Earlier in the game, Hiroya Miyagi came six outs shy of becoming the first pitcher in Japanese baseball history to throw a perfect game on Opening Day.
Rakuten cleanup hitter Ryosuke Tatsumi broke up Miyagi’s perfect game bid with an infield single leading off the eighth. Later in the inning, Yukiya Ito’s sacrifice fly cut Orix’s lead to 2-1.
Miyagi, who has been Orix’s ace since Yoshinobu Yamamoto left the team to start his major league career in 2024 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowed one run and two hits in eight innings, striking out seven and walking none.
After Orix closer Andres Machado (1-0) allowed Rakuten to tie the game in the top of the ninth, catcher Wakatsuki’s two-out double off Sora Suzuki (0-1) scored pinch-runner Yusuke Mugitani from second base.
Among Friday’s other season-opening games, Katsuki Azuma (1-0) and two relievers combined on a four-hit shutout as the reigning Japan Series champion DeNA BayStars beat the Chunichi Dragons 5-0.
Hanshin Tigers right-hander Shoki Murakami (1-0) finished one out shy of a complete-game shutout in a 4-0 win over the Hiroshima Carp, throwing 135 pitches.
AloJapan.com