SAPPORO (Interstat) — Sachiya Yamasaki pitched five innings of two-run ball and the Nippon-Ham Fighters defeated the Seibu Lions 8-2 on Saturday afternoon at Sapporo Dome. Yamasaki allowed seven hits, struck out three and improved to 2-0.

The Fighters jumped ahead with three runs in the second inning. Yuya Gunji doubled in the first run, then Yuki Nomura and Yua Tamiya added sacrifice flies. Chusei Mannami doubled home a run in the third for a 4-0 lead.

Seibu cut the deficit to 4-2 in the fifth when An-Ko Lin hit a two-run homer. But Nippon-Ham answered with three runs in the bottom half. Kazuki Miyazaki and Tatsuki Mizuno hit solo homers, and Gunji drove in a run on a groundout with an error. Yuki Nomura singled in a run in the seventh for the final margin.

Mannami went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Gunji drove in two runs. Lin finished 2-for-4 with the homer and two RBIs for Seibu.

Kona Takahashi took the loss, falling to 7-4. He allowed six runs over 4 1/3 innings.

Attendance was 33,535. The game lasted 2 hours, 55 minutes. Seibu fell to 48-33-3, while Nippon-Ham improved to 47-38-2.