OSAKA, Japan (Interstat) — Haruki Hosono pitched seven shutout innings, and the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters rolled past the Orix Buffaloes 7-0 on Saturday afternoon at Osaka Dome.

Hosono allowed four hits, struck out four and walked none to improve to 3-5. He threw 98 pitches and faced only one serious jam, which he escaped in the seventh inning. The Fighters backed him with 13 hits and scored in four different innings.

Orix starter Sean Hjelle took the loss, falling to 3-6. He allowed three earned runs on seven hits over five innings, striking out four and walking one. The Buffaloes managed five hits against three Nippon-Ham pitchers.

The game’s pivotal moment came in the fourth inning. With the Fighters leading 1-0 on a second-inning run, Franmil Reyes led off the fourth with a double to left. After a flyout and a strikeout, Yuki Nomura singled to shallow left to score Reyes. Nomura stole second, and Kotaro Kiyomiya doubled to left to bring home Nomura, extending the lead to 3-0.

Nippon-Ham added a run in the fifth. Tatsuki Mizuno singled with one out, stole second and scored on a single by Chusei Mannami that went to the pitcher. The Fighters made it 5-0 in the seventh. Ryota Isobata singled to lead off, stole second, advanced to third on a single by Reyes and scored on a groundout by Mannami.

In the ninth, Nippon-Ham put the game away with two more runs. Taiki Narama singled to lead off, moved to second on a groundout, and after a single by Mizuno, Mizuno stole second. Reyes lifted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Narama, and Mannami singled to left to score Mizuno.

Mannami finished 3 for 5 with two RBIs. Nomura was 2 for 4 with an RBI and one stolen base. Reyes went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a double. Kiyomiya drove in a run on a double. For Orix, Kotaro Kurebayashi walked twice, and Tomoya Mori and Ryo Ohta each singled.

Hosono faced his only real threat in the bottom of the seventh. After Keita Nakagawa flied out, Mori singled to shallow right and Ohta singled to shallow left, putting runners on first and second with one out. Hosono got Ryoto Kita to ground out to second, moving the runners to second and third, then struck out Kenya Wakatsuki looking to end the inning.

Reo Shibata relieved Hosono and pitched a perfect eighth inning, allowing one hit and striking out one. Yi-Lei Sun worked the ninth, allowing one hit — a single by Keita Nakagawa with one out — and striking out one.

The Buffaloes (42-42-1) recorded only five hits and did not advance a runner past second base after the seventh inning. Orix starter Sean Hjelle allowed singles in the second, fourth and fifth innings but kept the game close until the fourth-inning rally.

The Fighters (50-40) improved to 6-1 in their last seven games against Orix, including a three-game sweep of the Buffaloes at home from June 30 to July 2. Nippon-Ham had dropped two of three to the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks earlier in the week, while Orix lost three straight to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles before this game.

Saturday’s game drew 33,435 fans and lasted three hours.

The win was the Fighters’ third straight over Orix dating to that home sweep, and they have now won four of their last five road games. The Fighters continue the three-game series Sunday and Monday at Osaka Dome before traveling to face the Saitama Seibu Lions.

Orix, which had won four of its previous six games before this loss, will look to even the series Sunday behind a yet-to-be-announced starter.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Nippon-Ham 4, Orix 3, and its ELO system gave the Fighters a 53.90 percent probability to win. Orix was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5 runs. The total score of seven runs went over the over/under line of 6.5.