TOKOROZAWA, Japan (Interstat) — Alexander Canario’s solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Saitama Seibu Lions to a 4-3 victory over the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters on Friday evening at Seibu Dome.

The win before a crowd of 27,587 improved Seibu’s record to 44-27-1, while Nippon-Ham dropped to 40-33. The game lasted 3 hours, 6 minutes.

Canario finished 4 for 5 with a home run and two runs batted in. His walk-off blast came off Nippon-Ham reliever Kenta Uehara, who took the loss. Uehara, now 1-3, faced one batter and allowed one hit and one earned run without recording an out.

Hiroshi Kaino earned the win for Seibu, pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Kaino, who improved to 2-2, allowed one hit and struck out one.

Nippon-Ham struck first in the opening inning. With two outs in the top of the first, Franmil Reyes launched a solo home run to right field, putting the Fighters ahead 1-0.

Seibu answered in the bottom of the third. Kazunari Ishii doubled to left-center, and Canario followed with an RBI single to shallow center, tying the game at 1-1.

Nippon-Ham regained the lead in the fifth. Center fielder Kengo Yoshida led off the inning with a solo home run to left, his first of the game. The Fighters extended their advantage in the seventh when Yoshida again homered to left, making it 3-1.

Yoshida, the top star for Nippon-Ham, went 2 for 3 with two home runs and two RBIs. It was his second multi-home run performance in his last five games. He had also homered June 20 against SoftBank.

Seibu rallied in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and runners on first and second, Tyler Nevin singled to shallow left, driving in two runs to tie the game at 3-3. Nevin finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs.

Nippon-Ham starting pitcher Hiromi Itoh went seven innings, allowing three earned runs on nine hits while striking out four and walking three. He left with the game tied.

Seibu starter Kona Takahashi pitched six innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

In the top of the ninth, Nippon-Ham put a runner on first with one out, but Seibu turned a double play to end the threat.

Canario then led off the bottom of the ninth with his game-winning home run.

For Nippon-Ham, Reyes also homered, going 1 for 4 with one RBI. Kotaro Kiyomiya had two hits for the Fighters, who generated nine hits overall.

Seibu collected 11 hits, with Canario leading the way. Junichiro Kishi and Yuto Koga each had two hits for the Lions.

The victory extended Seibu’s winning streak over Nippon-Ham to two games, following a 6-3 win on May 17. The Lions have won five of the last nine meetings between the clubs.

Nippon-Ham had won four of its previous five games entering Friday, including a 7-4 victory over Chiba Lotte on June 24. Seibu had lost two of its last three, falling 2-0 to Tohoku Rakuten on June 25.

Both teams continue their series Saturday at Seibu Dome, with Nippon-Ham scheduled to start a three-game set before returning home to face Orix on June 30. Seibu will also host the Fighters on Sunday before traveling to Fukuoka to face SoftBank on June 30.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 6, Saitama Seibu Lions 5. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Nippon-Ham with a 53.00 percent probability to win. Seibu had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 5 went over the over-under line of 5.5.