Hiroya Miyagi of the Orix Buffaloes pitches against the Seibu Lions in their Pacific League game at Kyocera Dome in Osaka on June 27, 2021. (Kyodo)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Nineteen-year-old Hiroya Miyagi worked five solid innings to earn his eighth win and keep the Orix Buffaloes in a tie for first place in the Pacific League with a 10-0 win over the Seibu Lions on Sunday.

       The lefty allowed three hits, walked two and hit two while striking out six to improve to 8-1. After 98 pitches and with a 5-0 lead, Buffaloes manager Satoshi Nakajima turned the game over to his bullpen.

       Miyagi allowed the Lions to load the bases with two outs in the fifth with his team leading 2-0, but retired former PL MVP Hotaka Yamakawa to end the threat.

       "I came out intent on keeping the leadoff hitters off base, but that's not what happened. So I need to address that," said Miyagi. "I faced some tough spots, but didn't back down and I'm glad of that."

       The Buffaloes' win left them tied with the Rakuten Eagles, who completed a three-game home sweep of the four-time defending champion SoftBank Hawks.

       Japanese Olympic team member Masataka Yoshida was the Buffaloes' big gun. He singled and scored Orix's first run in a two-run fourth, hit a three-run home run, his 15th of the season, in the fifth, and singled in a run in a five-run seventh.

       Buffaloes catcher Torai Fushimi also drove in four runs, with a fourth-inning squeeze and a three-run seventh-inning double.

       Lions starter Zach Neal (1-2) allowed five runs over five innings after allowing 10 hits and a walk.

       At Sendai's Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi, Eigoro Mogi's third single of the game broke a sixth-inning tie, lifting the Rakuten Eagles to a 3-2 win over the SoftBank Hawks.

       At Shizuoka's Kusanagi Sports Complex, Leonys Martin's 18th home run, a three-run blow, capped the Lotte Marines' six-run third inning in an 8-3 win over the Nippon Ham Fighters.

       At Koshien Stadium, Tyler Austin hit a two-run homer and DeNA BayStars teammate Neftali Soto homered twice to complete a three-game sweep of the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers with an 8-3 win.

       At Jingu Stadium, Kazuma Okamoto's three-run home run, his 21st, powered the Yomiuri Giants past the Yakult Swallows 5-2 and to a series sweep at the home of their Tokyo rivals.

       At Hiroshima's Mazda Stadium, Kota Hayashi doubled in the tying run in the sixth inning for the Hiroshima Carp, but the hosts left the bases loaded in the ninth inning and had to settle for a 1-1 tie with the Chunichi Dragons.

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0