SENDAI, Japan (Interstat) — Itsuki Murabayashi delivered a perfect night at the plate, including a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning, to propel the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to a 5-4 comeback victory over the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on Thursday evening at Kleenex Stadium Miyagi.

In a game that defied pregame projections favoring the Hawks, the Golden Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak and handed SoftBank its first loss of the young Nippon Professional Baseball season. A crowd of 24,088 watched the back-and-forth contest, which lasted 2 hours, 59 minutes.

The most important part of the game unfolded in the bottom of the eighth inning. Trailing 3-2 after a solo home run by SoftBank’s Hotaka Yamakawa in the top half of the frame, Rakuten mounted a two-out rally against Hawks reliever Yuki Matsumoto. After a walk to Fumiya Kurokawa and a double by Yuya Ogoh, Murabayashi stepped in. The shortstop, already 3 for 3 with a solo homer in the seventh, laced a double down the right-field line, clearing the bases and giving the Golden Eagles a 4-3 lead. The two RBIs brought his total to three for the game.

Rakuten’s bullpen, however, made the ninth inning tense. SoftBank loaded the bases with no outs against closer Shoma Fujihira. Kensuke Kondoh’s sacrifice fly to right field scored a run, cutting the deficit to 5-4. With runners on first and third and one out, Fujihira induced a fly out from Tatsuru Yanagimachi before striking out Yuki Yanagita looking to end the game and secure his first save of the season.

The victory went to Rakuten reliever Masaya Nishigaki, who pitched the eighth inning and allowed Yamakawa’s homer. He moved to 1-0. Matsumoto took the loss for SoftBank, falling to 1-1 after surrendering two runs on two hits in his lone inning of work.

The game began with Rakuten striking first. Leadoff hitter Daisuke Nakashima launched a solo home run to right field off SoftBank starter Ryosuke Ohtsu in the bottom of the first inning.

SoftBank answered in the fourth against Rakuten starter Jose Urena. Back-to-back doubles by Hotaka Yamakawa and Taisei Makihara set the table. Takashi Umino brought in the first run with a sacrifice fly, and Kenta Imamiya followed with an RBI single to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.

Rakuten tied it in the fifth using small ball. Singles by Yuya Ogoh and Murabayashi and a pair of sacrifice bunts, the latter by Hiroto Kobukata, produced a run to make it 2-2.

Ohtsu settled in for the Hawks, working seven innings and allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out one. Urena, making his first start for Rakuten, went five innings, giving up two runs on six hits and striking out five.

The 2-2 deadlock held until the seventh, when Murabayashi broke it with a solo shot to left field, putting Rakuten ahead 3-2. Yamakawa’s blast in the top of the eighth briefly restored SoftBank’s lead at 4-3, setting the stage for Murabayashi’s decisive double.

The loss dropped the Hawks to 5-1 on the season, while the Golden Eagles improved to 2-4. The result was a surprise according to Interstat’s pregame metrics, which gave SoftBank a 65.5% probability to win and projected an 8-3 Hawks victory.

The game concluded a three-game series in Sendai, which SoftBank had won by scores of 4-2 and 6-1 in the first two contests.

Both teams travel for their next series. The first-place Hawks head to Chiba to face the Lotte Marines for a three-game set starting Friday. The Golden Eagles, seeking to build momentum, will travel to face the Saitama Seibu Lions, also beginning a three-game series on Friday. The two clubs are scheduled to meet again in a two-game series in Fukuoka beginning April 14.