SAPPORO, Japan (Interstat) — Keita Nakagawa’s bases-loaded triple in the eighth inning turned a one-run deficit into a two-run lead, and the Orix Buffaloes held on to defeat the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 10-9 on Saturday afternoon at Sapporo Dome.

The victory lifted Orix to 18-11, while Nippon-Ham dropped to 14-17. Naruki Teranishi (3-1) earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of relief, allowing one earned run on three hits with two strikeouts. Andres Machado recorded his eighth save despite surrendering a solo home run in the ninth, striking out one in one inning. Seigi Tanaka (0-1) took the loss.

Attendance was 32,759, and the game lasted 3 hours, 42 minutes.

The Fighters stormed ahead in the first inning, sending nine batters to the plate. After two quick outs, Rodolfo Castro singled, and Franmil Reyes doubled to left-center, scoring two runs. Kotaro Kiyomiya followed with a two-run home run to right, making it 4-0.

Orix answered in the second. Tomoya Mori walked, and Bob Seymour crushed a two-run homer to right-center, cutting the deficit to 4-2. The Buffaloes loaded the bases with no outs on a single by Ryoto Kita and a walk to Kotaro Kurebayashi, but Haruto Watanabe struck out, Yuma Mune flied out and Ryoma Nishikawa struck out to end the threat.

Nippon-Ham added single runs in each of the next three innings. In the second, Yua Tamiya doubled and scored on Castro’s single to center. In the third, Kiyomiya doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Chusei Mannami. In the fourth, Reyes singled home Yuya Gunji, pushing the lead to 7-2.

The Buffaloes began their comeback in the fifth. With two outs, Keita Nakagawa singled, and Mori homered to right, making it 7-4.

In the sixth, Orix tied the game. Kita walked, Kurebayashi singled, and Mune launched a three-run homer to right-center, knotting the score at 7-7.

Nippon-Ham reclaimed the lead in the seventh. Kiyomiya doubled and scored on a single by Mannami, putting the Fighters ahead 8-7.

Orix seized control in the eighth. Kurebayashi singled and Watanabe struck out. Mune flied out, but Nishikawa walked. Ryo Ohta singled to third, loading the bases with two outs. Nakagawa then tripled to right, clearing the bases for a 10-8 lead.

The Fighters threatened in the bottom half, putting two on with two outs after a Castro single and a Yuya Gunji double, but Reyes flied out to end the inning.

In the ninth, pinch hitter Ruan Ohtsuka led off with a solo home run to right, cutting the margin to 10-9. Machado then struck out Yua Tamiya to end the game.

Orix outhit Nippon-Ham 13-16, but the Buffaloes capitalized on two-out rallies. Kiyomiya finished 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs. Reyes was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. For Orix, Nakagawa went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, Mune was 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs, and Seymour and Mori each homered and drove in two runs.

Nippon-Ham starter Ruei-Yang Gu Lin pitched four innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs with six strikeouts. Orix reliever Raiku Katayama contributed 2 1/3 innings of one-run ball. Nippon-Ham’s Tsubasa Nabatame struck out two in a scoreless inning.

The win evened the season series at three games apiece, with the teams set to meet again Sunday. Orix had lost the opener of the three-game set 5-1 on Friday. The Buffaloes next host the Chiba Lotte Marines in a three-game series beginning Monday, while Nippon-Ham travels to face the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Orix 7, Nippon-Ham 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Nippon-Ham a 55.40 percent probability to win. Nippon-Ham was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The combined total of 14 runs went under the over/under of 7.5.