OSAKA, Japan (Interstat) — Sachiya Yamasaki pitched five innings of three-hit ball and Kotaro Kiyomiya homered in the first inning as the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters defeated the Orix Buffaloes 5-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Osaka Dome.

The Fighters, who have won four of their last five games, improved to 51-40. The Buffaloes fell to 42-43-1. Attendance was 36,126. The game lasted 3 hours, 2 minutes.

Nippon-Ham jumped on Orix starter Taito Takashima immediately in the top of the first. Tatsuki Mizuno singled to shallow right field with no outs, and Kiyomiya followed by driving a 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall for a two-run home run, his 16th of the season. After Franmil Reyes flied out to right, Chusei Mannami grounded out to shortstop. Yuya Gunji walked, Yuki Nomura singled to shallow left and Kengo Yoshida struck out swinging to end the inning, but the Fighters led 2-0.

Orix answered in the bottom of the first against Yamasaki. Ryoma Nishikawa flied out to center, but Ryoma Yamanaka hit a solo home run to right field, his ninth of the year, cutting the lead to 2-1. Kotaro Kurebayashi grounded out to shortstop and Keita Nakagawa also grounded out to shortstop, leaving the Buffaloes down by one.

The Fighters extended their lead in the third inning. Mannami led off with a double to center field. Gunji sacrificed him to third on a bunt back to the pitcher. Nomura then singled to shallow left, scoring Mannami to make it 3-1. Yoshida singled to shallow center, putting runners on first and second. Daigo Kamikawabata popped out to first, and Yushi Shimizu grounded to third, but an error loaded the bases with two outs. Mizuno cleared the bases with a double down the right-field line, scoring two runs to push the lead to 5-1. Kiyomiya struck out swinging to end the inning.

The Buffaloes mounted a threat in the bottom of the third. Sho Fukunaga singled to shallow center and Haruto Watanabe singled to shallow right, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Nishikawa flied out to left, and Yamanaka grounded into a double play, erasing the rally. Orix would not get another runner past second base the rest of the game.

Yamasaki (3-0) allowed three hits, one earned run and struck out three over five innings. He retired the side in order in the second and fifth innings, and worked around a two-out walk in the fourth. After the double play in the third, Yamasaki faced only nine batters over the next three frames, allowing just one hit.

The Fighters bullpen took over from there. Seigi Tanaka pitched a perfect sixth, striking out one. Kenta Uehara worked a scoreless seventh, allowing no hits. Mizuki Hori tossed a 1-2-3 eighth, striking out one. Taisei Yanagawa closed the game with a perfect ninth, striking out one.

Orix’s Takashima (4-2) took the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits over four innings. He struck out four and walked two. The Buffaloes bullpen was effective, with Taisuke Yamaoka throwing two scoreless innings, Kaito Iriyama tossing 1 2/3 hitless frames, and Shota Abe and Kosei Yoshida each contributing a scoreless inning. But Orix’s offense managed only four hits – the solo homer by Yamanaka, singles by Fukunaga, Watanabe and Nishikawa – and grounded into two double plays.

The most important sequence occurred in the top of the third, when Nippon-Ham turned a 2-1 edge into a 5-1 lead. After Mannami’s double and Gunji’s sacrifice, Nomura’s RBI single restored a two-run advantage. Then, with the bases full after an error, Mizuno’s two-run double gave Yamasaki a cushion that proved insurmountable for the Buffaloes. Orix never threatened again after that inning, as the Fighters’ pitching staff retired 13 of the final 15 batters.

Nippon-Ham outhit Orix 11-4. Kiyomiya went 1 for 5 with the home run and two RBIs. Mizuno finished 2 for 5 with two RBIs. Nomura had two hits and an RBI. Mannami doubled twice.

For the Buffaloes, Yamanaka’s home run was their lone extra-base hit. Kurebayashi walked once, and Nishikawa, Watanabe and Fukunaga each singled.

The game marked the second consecutive victory for the Fighters over the Buffaloes at Osaka Dome, following a 7-0 shutout on Saturday. Nippon-Ham has now won eight of the 10 meetings between the two clubs this season, including a four-game sweep in Sapporo at the end of June.

Yamasaki continued his strong start to the season. In his previous outing on July 11 against Seibu, he earned a win with five innings of two-run ball. On Sunday, he lowered his ERA to 1.80 over three starts.

The Buffaloes, who have lost four straight games, will look to bounce back Monday when they face the Fighters again. Nippon-Ham will send a starter to be announced against Orix in the series finale. After that, the Fighters travel to face the Seibu Lions in a three-game series starting Wednesday, while the Buffaloes head to Fukuoka to take on the Softbank Hawks.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 4, Orix Buffaloes 3. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Nippon-Ham with a 55.00 percent probability to win. Orix had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of +1.5. The total score of 4 went over the over/under line of 6.5.