TOKOROZAWA, Japan (Interstat) — The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters erupted for three runs in the top of the ninth inning and held off a late push by the Saitama Seibu Lions to win 4-2 on Saturday night at Seibu Dome.

The Fighters improved to 41-33, while the Lions dropped to 44-28-1. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for Nippon-Ham dating to June 22, and avenged a 4-3 loss to Seibu on Friday in the opener of this three-game series.

Both starting pitchers were effective through the early innings. Nippon-Ham’s Hiroya Shimamoto worked seven innings, allowing one run on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks. He earned his second win against no losses. Seibu’s Chihiro Sumida went six innings, giving up one run on four hits while striking out nine. Sumida took the loss, falling to 6-4.

The game was scoreless through the first two innings. Seibu broke through in the third. Kazunari Ishii singled to shallow right, and Seiya Watanabe followed with a single to shallow left. Manaya Nishikawa laid down a bunt single to third, loading the bases with no outs. Alexander Canario grounded into a double play to shortstop, but Ishii scored from third on the play to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. Natsuo Takizawa then flied out to center to end the inning.

Nippon-Ham tied the game in the sixth. With one out, Kengo Yoshida launched a solo home run to left field, his first of the season. That was the only run Sumida allowed.

The decisive rally came in the ninth against the Seibu bullpen. Yuki Nomura singled to shallow center to lead off. Ryohei Hosokawa sacrificed him to second. Taiki Narama then doubled down the right-field line, scoring Nomura and giving the Fighters a 2-1 lead. After Ryota Isobata struck out, Tatsuki Mizuno tripled to right-center, driving in Narama to make it 3-1. Yua Tamiya followed with a single to first, scoring Mizuno for a 4-1 advantage. Shu Yamagata grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.

Seibu mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth. Canario led off with a home run to left-center, his second of the season, cutting the deficit to 4-2. But Natsuo Takizawa flied out to second, Taiga Kojima grounded out to third and, after Tyler Nevin singled to shallow center, Masayuki Kuwahara grounded out to second to end the game.

Kota Tatsu of Nippon-Ham earned his second save of the season, working the ninth inning and allowing one run on two hits with no walks and no strikeouts.

The Fighters outhit the Lions 10-8. Nippon-Ham got multi-hit games from Narama and Tamiya. Narama finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Tamiya was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Mizuno went 1-for-4 with a triple and an RBI. Yoshida’s home run was his only hit in four at-bats. Nippon-Ham’s Franmil Reyes went 0-for-3 with a walk.

For Seibu, Nevin had two hits in four at-bats. Canario went 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. Ishii was 1-for-3. Nishikawa had a bunt single in three at-bats. Shuta Tonosaki singled in three at-bats. Seibu left seven runners on base, while Nippon-Ham stranded nine.

The attendance was announced as 27,614. The game lasted 2 hours, 49 minutes.

Nippon-Ham had lost five of its previous six games before Saturday, including Friday’s one-run defeat to Seibu. The Fighters had dropped three of their last four one-run decisions. Seibu had won three of four entering the game, but fell for the second time in three contests.

The Lions took a 1-0 lead in the third on the Canario double play grounder and had opportunities to add more. After loading the bases with no outs, the Lions came away with just one run. In the fifth, Seibu had a runner on first with no outs after Tonosaki singled, but Kazunari Ishii grounded into a force out, Seiya Watanabe flied out and Ishii was caught stealing second to end the inning.

Nippon-Ham wasted a two-on, two-out opportunity in the fifth when Mizutani struck out looking. The Fighters also left a runner on second in the second inning and stranded a runner on first in the eighth.

The game turned on the Fighters’ three-run ninth, which erased the 1-1 deadlock. Mizuno’s triple was the key hit, a line drive to right-center that scored Narama and gave the Fighters a two-run lead. Tamiya’s single made it a three-run advantage.

Seibu’s bullpen, which had been solid in the series opener, could not hold the tie. The Lions used two relievers in the ninth: Kaito Noda allowed the first three runs, and Ryoma Matsuda surrendered the final run.

The most important sequence of the game occurred in the top of the ninth. With the score tied 1-1, Nomura’s leadoff single broke a string of six consecutive Fighters retired by Seibu relievers. Hosokawa’s sacrifice bunt moved Nomura into scoring position, and Narama’s double gave Nippon-Ham its first lead of the game. The Fighters then added two more runs, turning a tight contest into a 4-1 lead.

Nippon-Ham’s victory improved its record in series openers this season to 13-7. The Fighters are now 18-16 on the road.

Seibu’s loss was its first at home since June 11 against Hiroshima. The Lions are 24-13 at Seibu Dome.

The two teams will play the rubber match Sunday at Seibu Dome. Nippon-Ham then returns home for a three-game set against Orix starting Tuesday. Seibu travels to Fukuoka for a three-game series against the SoftBank Hawks beginning Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 6, Saitama Seibu Lions 4. Interstatl’s ELO system gave the Fighters a 52.40 percent probability to win. Nippon-Ham was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 4 went over the over/under line of 5.5.