SAPPORO, Japan (Interstat) — In a dramatic, back-and-forth playoff contest that stretched from afternoon into evening, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters staged a two-out, two-run rally in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat the Orix Buffaloes 5-4 on Sunday.

A crowd of 35,024 at Sapporo Dome watched the Fighters even the playoff series after Orix had taken an early lead. The game lasted 3 hours, 20 minutes.

The Buffaloes struck first in the top of the second inning when Yutaro Sugimoto launched a solo home run to left-center field off Nippon-Ham starter Koki Kitayama.

The Fighters answered immediately in their half of the frame. Shu Yamagata led off with a single, was bunted to second by Yua Tamiya, and scored on a single by Shun Mizutani, tying the game.

Orix responded with a decisive blow in the third. After a groundout, Kenya Wakatsuki doubled and Taishi Hirooka singled, putting runners on the corners. Following a strikeout, shortstop Kotaro Kurebayashi stepped up and crushed a three-run home run to left field, giving the Buffaloes a 4-1 advantage.

Nippon-Ham began chipping away in the bottom of the third. Franmil Reyes singled and Yuya Gunji was hit by a pitch, setting the stage for Kotaro Kiyomiya, who cleared the bases with a triple to center field, pulling the Fighters to within a run.

The game then settled into a pitchers’ duel. Orix reliever Allen Kuri delivered a key performance, throwing four scoreless innings of relief, allowing just four hits while striking out two to keep the Fighters at bay.

The deadlock was broken in the fateful eighth inning. With two outs and the bases empty, Chusei Mannami kept the inning alive with a single to center. Pinch-hitter Kota Yazawa followed with another single, putting the winning run on base. Reyes then delivered the decisive hit, lacing a single to right field that scored both Mannami and Yazawa, giving Nippon-Ham its first lead of the game at 5-4.

Fighters closer Yukiya Saito entered in the ninth and was dominant, striking out two batters in a perfect inning to seal the victory and earn his fifth save of the season.

The win went to Kenta Uehara, who pitched two perfect innings of relief to improve his record to 4-1. Sho Iwasaki took the loss for Orix, falling to 5-2 after being charged with the two eighth-inning runs.

The Fighters out-hit the Buffaloes 12 to 6 but struggled to capitalize with runners in scoring position for much of the game until the eighth-inning rally. Kurebayashi’s three-run homer was the offensive highlight for Orix, while Kiyomiya’s two-run triple led the Fighters’ attack.

With the victory, Nippon-Ham improved its overall season record to 84 wins, 58 losses and one tie. Orix’s record moved to 74 wins, 68 losses and three ties.

The result defied the pregame projection from Interstat, whose game simulator had predicted a 6-5 Orix victory, though its ELO system gave Nippon-Ham a 58 percent probability to win. The combined nine total runs also went over the posted over/under line of 6.0.

The two teams will continue their playoff series Monday at Sapporo Dome.