On Sunday, Masahiro Tanaka went to the mound to inch the Rakuten Eagles closer to clinching a playoff spot, while the Pacific League-leading Orix Buffaloes faced the Nippon Ham Fighters in Yuki Saito’s retirement game with a chance to trim their magic number to six.

Meanwhile, the Central League-leading Yakult Swallows took their magic number of six to Yokohama, while the second-place Hanshin Tigers took on the red-hot Hiroshima Carp, who have a longshot playoff berth in their sights.