HIROSHIMA, Japan (Interstat) — The Hiroshima Toyo Carp defeated the Chunichi Dragons 7-3 on Friday evening at Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium, overcoming a strong start from Dragons starter Yuya Yanagi with a four-run seventh inning and a solo home run in the eighth.

Shun Okamoto pitched five and one-third innings for the win, allowing one earned run on six hits with four strikeouts. He improved to 1-1 on the season. Yanagi took the loss, falling to 1-1 after giving up two earned runs on five hits over five innings with four strikeouts.

Attendance was 28,127 and the game lasted 3 hours, 50 minutes.

The Dragons, now 8-20, struck first in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Yutaro Itayama singled to shallow left and was replaced on the bases by pinch-runner Kosuke Ukai, who also singled to shallow center. Toshiki Abe then hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Ukai from third to give Chunichi a 1-0 lead. But the momentum was short-lived: Ukai was caught stealing second to end the inning.

Hiroshima, which improved to 10-15, answered in the bottom of the seventh with a decisive rally. Shogo Akiyama led off with a double on the right-field line. Naru Katsuda grounded out to first, moving Akiyama to third. Kaito Kozono walked, and Shogo Sakakura singled to shallow right to load the bases. Takayoshi Noma then grounded out to first, but an error allowed all runners to advance, scoring Akiyama and tying the game 1-1. Tai Sasaki flied out to right, but Ren Hirakawa followed with a single to shallow right that drove in Kozono and Sakakura, making it 3-1. Taiki Mochimaru flied out to center to end the inning, but the damage was done: four runs crossed the plate, two of them unearned due to the error.

The Dragons refused to fold. In the top of the eighth, Takuya Kinoshita singled to shallow left. Yutaro Itayama flied out to left, but Ryuku Tsuchida, pinch-hitting, launched a two-run home run to right field, his first of the season, cutting the deficit to 4-3.

Hiroshima regained a two-run cushion in the bottom of the eighth when Shoichi Futamata, pinch-hitting, led off with a solo home run to left field. Minoru Ohmori grounded out to second, then Naru Katsuda reached on a fielding error by the shortstop. Kaito Kozono walked, and Masaya Yano struck out looking. Seita Maekawa flied out to right, but the extra run proved valuable.

The Dragons went down quietly in the ninth, with Hiroki Fukunaga grounding out to shortstop, Kaito Muramatsu grounding out to second and Seiya Hosokawa striking out swinging to end the game.

Earlier, the game was a pitchers’ duel through five innings. Yanagi allowed five hits and two earned runs, striking out four. Okamoto worked out of jams in the first, third and fourth innings, stranding runners in scoring position.

Hiroshima scored its first run in the third inning. Shogo Akiyama singled to shallow left, then Naru Katsuda sacrificed him to second. After Kaito Kozono grounded out to second, Shogo Sakakura singled to shallow center to bring home Akiyama for a 1-0 lead.

The Carp added another run in the fifth. Akiyama doubled on the left-field line, Katsuda sacrificed him to third, and Kozono singled to shallow center to make it 2-0.

Chunichi had opportunities but could not convert. In the top of the first, Yohei Ohshima struck out, Hiroki Fukunaga walked, Kaito Muramatsu grounded out, Seiya Hosokawa walked, and Jason Vosler struck out. In the top of the second, Takuya Kinoshita grounded out, Yutaro Itayama doubled to right, Yasuhiro Yamamoto grounded out, and Yanagi grounded out, leaving Itayama on third. In the top of the third, Ohshima flied out, Fukunaga singled and stole second, Muramatsu flied out, and Hosokawa walked, but Vosler flied out. In the top of the fourth, Kinoshita walked, Itayama struck out, Yamamoto grounded out, and Yanagi grounded out. In the top of the fifth, Ohshima singled, Fukunaga flied out, Muramatsu singled, Hosokawa walked to load the bases, but Vosler flied out and Kinoshita flied out to shortstop.

Hiroshima’s bullpen held firm after Okamoto departed. Taichi Taka pitched two-thirds of a scoreless inning. Atsushi Endoh pitched a perfect eighth with one strikeout, and Daisuke Moriura closed the ninth with two strikeouts. Kento Fujishima of Chunichi pitched a scoreless sixth with two strikeouts, and Kenshin Makino allowed one hit in two-thirds of an inning but escaped without damage.

The Dragons fell to 8-20 and have lost two straight after a brief three-game winning streak. Hiroshima improved to 10-15, snapping a two-game losing streak.

The teams will meet again Saturday and Sunday at Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium as part of this three-game series before Chunichi returns home to face the Hanshin Tigers and Hiroshima travels to play the Yokohama BayStars.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chunichi Dragons 3, Hiroshima Toyo Carp 1. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Hiroshima with a 53.40 percent probability to win. Chunichi was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of +1.5. The total score of 10 went over the over/under line of 5.5.