SENDAI, Japan (Interstat) — Ryosuke Tatsumi’s two-run single in the seventh inning broke a 1-1 tie and lifted the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to a 3-1 victory over the Orix Buffaloes on Tuesday night at Kleenex Stadium Miyagi.

Tatsumi finished 2 for 4 with a solo home run and two RBIs, providing the decisive blow in a game where both teams managed eight hits but only one of them produced consistent offense with runners in scoring position. Rakuten’s Ryota Takinaka tossed 6 2/3 innings of six-hit, one-run ball, striking out six to earn his fifth win against three losses. Shoma Fujihira recorded his 17th save with a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit and striking out one.

Orix starter Allen Kuri took the loss, falling to 6-6 after a solid but ultimately insufficient outing. He worked six innings, surrendering three hits and two earned runs while striking out five. The Buffaloes had entered the game riding a two-game winning streak, having swept a weekend series at Chiba Lotte, but could not sustain that momentum against a Rakuten club that had lost six of its previous seven.

The game began quietly. Takinaka retired the side in order in the top of the first, getting Keita Nakagawa, Ryoma Yamanaka and Ryoma Nishikawa all on groundouts to second base. Kuri matched him with a scoreless bottom half, striking out Daisuke Nakashima to open the frame before Rui Muneyama grounded out. But with two outs, Tatsumi launched a solo home run to left-center, giving the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead. Carson McCusker walked and Itsuki Murabayashi flied out to end the inning.

Neither team threatened again until the fifth. After Kotaro Kurebayashi singled to open the top half for Orix, Ryoto Kita grounded out, then Kita was caught stealing second for the second out. Kenya Wakatsuki grounded out to end the inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Kuri retired Kengo Horiuchi and Nakashima on flyouts before Muneyama connected for a solo home run to right, extending Rakuten’s lead to 2-0. Tatsumi grounded out to first to close the inning.

Orix finally broke through in the sixth. Yuma Mune struck out to start the inning, but Nakagawa answered with a solo home run to left, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Yamanaka followed with a single, but Nishikawa grounded out and Tomoya Mori flied out to center, leaving the Buffaloes still trailing by one.

The decisive moment came in the bottom of the seventh. Kuri had been replaced after six innings, and Orix reliever Sho Iwasaki entered. Hideto Asamura struck out looking to open the frame, but Fumiya Kurokawa doubled to left. Kengo Horiuchi was hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second. Daisuke Nakashima then singled to shallow right, loading the bases with one out. Muneyama flied out to right for the second out, but Tatsumi delivered a single to shallow left, scoring Kurokawa and Horiuchi to give Rakuten a 3-1 lead. McCusker popped out to first to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Orix mounted a final rally in the ninth. With one out, Kotaro Kurebayashi singled to shallow center off Fujihira. But Ryoto Kita flied out to left, and pinch hitter Shota Hiranuma struck out swinging to end the game.

The Buffaloes had opportunities but could not capitalize. They left six runners on base and struck out 10 times as a team. Nakagawa was the only Orix batter with an extra-base hit, finishing 2 for 4 with the home run. Yamanaka also had two hits. For Rakuten, Tatsumi and Nakashima each had two hits, while Kurokawa doubled and scored a run.

The victory improved Rakuten’s record to 32-49-1, while Orix fell to 42-39-2. The two teams will meet again Wednesday and Thursday in the second and third games of this four-game series before the All-Star break. Orix then returns home to host Hokkaido Nippon Ham, while Rakuten welcomes Saitama Seibu.

Takinaka’s ability to escape trouble proved pivotal. In the third, Orix put two on with two outs after singles by Mune and Nakagawa, but Yamanaka flied out to center. In the seventh, Takinaka left with one out and a runner on first after walking Kurebayashi. Reliever Ryu Kutani entered and induced a groundout from Kita before giving up a single to Wakatsuki, but Takinaka’s line remained clean through 6 2/3 innings.

Kuri, meanwhile, was effective until the fifth-inning homer. He allowed only one hit through four innings before Muneyama’s blast. The Buffaloes’ bullpen held Rakuten scoreless in the eighth and ninth, but the offense could not mount a comeback.

The game’s total of four runs went under the over/under line of 6.5. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Orix 4, Rakuten 3, and Interstat’s ELO system had given Orix a 54.70 percent probability to win. Rakuten, however, had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5.