SENDAI, Japan (Interstat) — In a result that defied pregame projections, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles used a combined five-hitter from seven pitchers to shut out the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 3-0 on Tuesday night at Kleenex Stadium Miyagi.

A crowd of 24,770 watched as the Eagles, installed as home underdogs, snapped the Fighters’ four-game winning streak and improved their season record to 5-4. Nippon-Ham fell to an even 5-5. The game time was 3 hours, 16 minutes.

The most critical sequence of the evening unfolded in the bottom of the fourth inning, breaking a scoreless deadlock and setting the tone for the remainder of the contest. With one out and runners on second and third following a double by Daisuke Nakashima and a hit-by-pitch to Ryosuke Tatsumi, Fighters starter Haruki Hosono faced Fumiya Kurokawa. Kurokawa delivered the game’s decisive blow, lacing a double to left field that cleared the bases and gave Rakuten a 2-0 lead. Hosono avoided further damage but was saddled with the loss after allowing two earned runs on seven hits over five innings, striking out five.

Rakuten added an insurance run in the fifth against Hosono. Hiroto Kobukata led off with a single, stole second, and scored on Nakashima’s second double of the night, a drive to left-center that made it 3-0. Nakashima finished 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.

The Fighters’ offense, which had averaged over seven runs per game during its recent win streak, was stymied throughout. They managed only five singles and a double, going 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and stranding seven baserunners. Their best early chance came in the first inning, when they put runners on first and third with one out against Rakuten opener Kenta Maeda, but the veteran right-hander struck out Chusei Mannami to end the threat.

Maeda, named the top star for Rakuten, set a strong foundation with 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four. This bounce-back performance followed a loss in his previous start against SoftBank on March 31.

The Eagles’ bullpen took over from there and was flawless. Ren Kajiya earned the win with 1 2/3 innings of one-hit relief, striking out two. He was followed by scoreless frames from Masaya Nishigaki, Seiryu Uchi, and Shoma Fujihira, who worked a perfect ninth inning for his third save of the season. The quintet of relievers combined for 5 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out seven.

Nippon-Ham’s bullpen was equally effective in keeping the game close, as Sachiya Yamasaki, Koji Fukutani, and Taisho Tamai combined for three hitless innings of relief, but the early deficit proved insurmountable.

The result was a stark contrast to pregame expectations. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 5-3 Fighters victory, and its ELO system gave Nippon-Ham a 57.8 percent probability to win. The Fighters had also been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of +1.5. The total score of three runs went well under the over/under line of 6.5.

The loss halted momentum for Nippon-Ham, which had won four straight, including a three-game sweep over the Orix Buffaloes over the weekend. Rakuten, meanwhile, continued its solid early-season form, having now won or tied four of its last five contests.

The two teams will meet again quickly for the second game of this three-game series on Wednesday night in Sendai. The Fighters will look to even the series and get back above .500, while the Golden Eagles will aim to secure a series victory and move two games over the .500 mark for the first time this young season. Following this series, Nippon-Ham returns home to host the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, while Rakuten remains at home for a three-game set against the Orix Buffaloes.