SAPPORO, Japan (Interstat) – The Orix Buffaloes, boasting the best record in Nippon Professional Baseball, visit the struggling Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters on Friday evening at the Sapporo Dome to open a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. local time.

Orix (17-10) has won seven of its last eight contests, including a 5-4 victory over SoftBank on Wednesday. The Buffaloes have dominated the season series against the Fighters (13-16) recently, taking three consecutive games from April 24-26 in Osaka by scores of 3-2, 4-2 and 9-4. However, Nippon-Ham won all three games when these teams met in Sapporo on April 3-5, outscoring Orix 26-8.

Right-hander Daiki Tajima (1-1, 5.91 ERA) is expected to start for Orix. In his most recent outing Wednesday against SoftBank, Tajima earned the win by allowing three earned runs on five hits with six strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. In his previous start April 21 at Lotte, he took the loss after surrendering four earned runs in five innings.

Nippon-Ham will counter with right-hander Hiromi Itoh (2-1, 3.00 ERA), who has been the team’s most consistent pitcher. Itoh earned the win Thursday against Seibu by allowing one earned run on seven hits with seven strikeouts over seven innings. In a no-decision against Orix on April 24, he pitched eight innings and allowed three earned runs while striking out seven.

The Fighters snapped a three-game losing streak with Thursday’s 3-2 victory in 11 innings at Seibu. Nippon-Ham has struggled offensively, scoring two or fewer runs in six of its last nine games.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 7-3 Orix victory, but the system’s ELO rating gives Nippon-Ham a 54.6% probability of winning.

The teams will continue the series Saturday and Sunday before Orix returns home to host Chiba Lotte on Monday. Nippon-Ham travels to Rakuten for a three-game set beginning Monday.