NAGOYA, Japan (Interstat) — The Chunichi Dragons completed a second consecutive blowout of the Hiroshima Carp with an 8-1 victory Saturday afternoon at Nagoya Dome in front of 36,693 fans.

Chunichi scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back, adding two in the fifth and two in the seventh to secure the win and improve to 32-48-3. Hiroshima dropped to 30-43-4.

The game, which lasted 2 hours, 52 minutes, was dominated by Dragons starter Hideaki Wakui. The right-hander earned his first win of the season, allowing one earned run on six hits over six innings while striking out two and walking one. Carp starter Shohei Mori took the loss, giving up four earned runs on four hits in four innings with three strikeouts and three walks. Mori fell to 1-1.

The tone was set immediately in the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter Yuki Okabayashi launched a solo home run to right field off Mori for a 1-0 lead. After a walk to Seiya Hosokawa and a single by Kaito Muramatsu, Takaya Ishikawa crushed a three-run homer to center, scoring Hosokawa and Muramatsu and making it 4-0. Ishikawa’s blast came with one out and put the Dragons firmly in control.

Hiroshima’s offense struggled to mount any threat against Wakui. The Carp managed a double from Ryosuke Kikuchi in the first and a single from Kaito Kozono in the second, but each inning ended without a run. In the fourth, Kikuchi doubled again with one out, but was left stranded after a groundout and a strikeout.

The Carp finally broke through in the fifth. With one out, Minoru Ohmori singled to shallow right. Tomoki Ishihara doubled on the left line, putting runners on second and third. Keisuke Sato then singled to shallow right, scoring Ohmori and cutting the deficit to 4-1. But Norihiko Nabara grounded out to second to end the inning, and Hiroshima would not score again.

Chunichi answered immediately in the bottom half. Hosokawa was hit by a pitch to lead off, and Muramatsu singled. After a Miguel Sano single loaded the bases, Ishikawa delivered again, this time with a single to shallow left that scored Hosokawa and Muramatsu, extending the lead to 6-1. Jason Vosler followed with a single to reload the bases, but the Dragons could not add more as Mikiya Tanaka flied out and Takuma Katoh and Wakui struck out.

Hiroshima reliever Harun Kikuchi, who entered in the fifth, allowed two earned runs on four hits in one inning. He was replaced by Taiga Tsuji, who gave up two earned runs on one hit in one inning.

The Dragons put the game away in the seventh against Tsuji. With one out, Ishikawa walked. Vosler then crushed a two-run homer to right, making it 8-1. It was Vosler’s second hit of the game and provided more than enough cushion for the Chunichi bullpen.

Kenshin Makino pitched a scoreless eighth, allowing one hit and striking out one. Albert Abreu worked a perfect ninth, and Kohki Saitoh also threw a scoreless inning earlier in the game.

Hiroshima’s offense managed just seven hits. Kozono went 1 for 4. Kikuchi had two doubles, but the Carp went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position after the fifth inning.

Chunichi collected 10 hits. Okabayashi had the solo homer and a walk. Ishikawa finished with two hits, including the three-run homer and a two-run single, driving in five runs. Vosler had two hits, including the two-run homer, and drove in two.

The victory came a day after Chunichi routed Hiroshima 10-1 on Friday. The Dragons have won four of their last six games, while the Carp have lost three of four.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Hiroshima 5, Chunichi 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Chunichi a 53.20 percent probability to win. Chunichi entered as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of nine runs went over the over-under line of 6.5.