Baseball: Buffaloes rally to win final stage opener

Kotaro Kurebayashi drove in three runs to back Yoshinobu Yamamoto as the Orix Buffaloes rallied to beat the Lotte Marines 8-5 in Game 1 of the Pacific League Climax Series final stage Wednesday.

The Buffaloes took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series as they entered it with a one-win advantage as the league champions.

The Marines, who finished the regular season in second place, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning against Orix ace Yamamoto. Gregory Polanco doubled in two runs and scored when Orix was unable to turn an inning-ending double play on Koki Yamaguchi’s grounder.

Kurebayas...