SAPPORO, Japan (Interstat) — The Seibu Lions defeated the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 2-1 on Friday evening at Sapporo Dome, rallying in the late innings behind a stellar start from right-hander Natsuki Takeuchi and a tie-breaking sacrifice fly by Tyler Nevin in the eighth.

Takeuchi tossed seven innings of four-hit ball, allowing one earned run while striking out eight to improve to 6-4. Hiroshi Kaino pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save, striking out two. The Lions, now 46-34-3, snapped a three-game losing streak and evened the season series with the Fighters at five wins apiece.

The Fighters struck first in the third inning. Taiki Narama led off with a double down the right-field line and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Yua Tamiya. Shun Mizutani grounded to third baseman Seiya Watanabe, who threw home but Narama scored on the fielder’s choice for a 1-0 Nippon-Ham lead.

Nippon-Ham squandered a golden opportunity in the fourth when Chusei Mannami tripled to right with no outs. Yuki Nomura struck out swinging, then Mannami was caught stealing at home on a throw from catcher Yuto Koga after a pitch in the dirt. Kotaro Kiyomiya followed with a double but was left stranded.

The game remained 1-0 until the seventh, when Masayuki Kuwahara crushed a solo home run to left-center off Fighters reliever Hiroya Shimamoto. Kuwahara, who entered the game as a defensive substitution in center field and later moved to left, drove a 1-1 pitch for his 12th homer of the season, tying the score 1-1.

Seibu took the lead in the eighth. Alexander Canario led off with a single to shallow left off Shimamoto. Natsuo Takizawa grounded to catcher Kengo Yoshida, who threw wide of second base, allowing Canario to reach second and Takizawa to reach first. Taiga Kojima sacrificed both runners into scoring position. Nevin then lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Canario to make it 2-1.

Shimamoto took the loss, falling to 2-1. In one inning of relief, he allowed two hits and two runs, one earned, while walking none and striking out none.

The Fighters threatened in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Trey Wingenter. With two outs, Tatsuki Mizuno singled to left and Franmil Reyes walked. But Wingenter induced a groundout from Mannami to end the inning. Kaino retired the side in order in the ninth, striking out Nomura and Kiyomiya before Yoshida grounded out to shortstop.

The game featured a pitchers’ duel between Takeuchi and Nippon-Ham starter Hiromi Itoh. Itoh worked seven innings, scattering five hits and allowing one earned run while striking out seven. He left the game with the score tied 1-1 after 100 pitches.

Seibu outhit Nippon-Ham 8-5. Tyler Nevin doubled in the second inning and drove in the go-ahead run. Seiya Watanabe had two singles and a stolen base. Kuwahara’s home run was his only hit in three at-bats. For the Fighters, Narama doubled and scored the lone run, and Mannami tripled but was thrown out at home.

The win was Seibu’s first over Nippon-Ham since a 4-3 victory on June 26. The Fighters had taken the previous two meetings in late June at Seibu’s home stadium. With the loss, Nippon-Ham fell to 47-37-2. The Fighters had won four of their last five entering the game.

Attendance was 30,775. The game lasted 3 hours, 1 minute.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 6-2 Nippon-Ham victory. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Fighters a 60.90 percent chance to win. Nippon-Ham was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5 runs. The total of three runs scored went under the over-under line of 7.5.