TOKOROZAWA (Interstat) — The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Saitama Seibu Lions played to a 3-3 tie in 12 innings Saturday evening, Sept. 12, at Seibu Dome in Tokorozawa, Japan, and the game was declared a tie under Nippon Professional Baseball rules. The Fighters, the visiting team, moved to 71-56-3. The Lions, the home team, moved to 73-53-4. A crowd of 27,562 attended the game, which lasted 3 hours, 49 minutes. Nippon-Ham recorded nine hits, while Seibu finished with 13. The teams combined for six runs, but neither could push across the decisive run in extra innings. The Lions will host the Fighters again Sunday in Tokorozawa.

Seibu left-hander Chihiro Sumida delivered the game’s most dominant start, working eight innings and allowing two earned runs on six hits with eight strikeouts. He repeatedly worked out of trouble and kept Nippon-Ham from building a big inning. Nippon-Ham right-hander Hiromi Itoh matched Sumida’s length, pitching eight innings and giving up three earned runs on 10 hits with one strikeout. Itoh allowed Seibu’s biggest rally in the middle innings but otherwise limited the damage as the Lions collected 13 hits. Both starters left with the game still undecided, and neither figured in the final decision. Sumida’s eight strikeouts helped the Lions strand runners and preserve a narrow lead into the late innings, while Itoh kept the Fighters close long enough for their late comeback.

Nippon-Ham opened the game with a threat when Tatsuki Mizuno singled to shallow right, but Yua Tamiya grounded into a double play and Kengo Yoshida struck out swinging. Seibu also put a runner on in the first when Taiga Kojima singled to shallow center, but Tyler Nevin flew out to center. Nippon-Ham broke through in the second when Franmil Reyes hit a solo home run to right. Reyes finished 2 for 4 with one home run and one RBI. Shun Mizutani followed with a double on the left line, but Yuya Shintoh struck out, Shu Yamagata flew out to left, and Ryohei Hosokawa struck out swinging, leaving Mizutani stranded.

Seibu threatened in the second when Seiya Watanabe and Takuya Hiruma singled to put runners on first and third with no outs. Taiga Hirasawa flew out to center, Junichiro Kishi flew out to first, and Sosuke Genda grounded out to shortstop, ending the inning without a run. The Lions put another runner in scoring position in the third when Alexander Canario doubled on the left line and moved to third on Natsuo Takizawa’s sacrifice bunt, but Kojima grounded out to first and Nevin grounded out to third. Seibu finally broke through in the fourth. Watanabe and Hiruma opened the inning with singles, and after Hirasawa flew out, Kishi singled to shallow center to load the bases. Genda then doubled to left-center to drive in two runs. Canario followed with a sacrifice fly to left that scored another run and gave the Lions a 3-1 lead. Natsuo Takizawa flew out to shortstop to end the inning.

Nippon-Ham could not answer immediately. In the fifth, Shintoh struck out, Yamagata flew out to left, and Hosokawa grounded out to second. In the sixth, Narama flew out to right, Mizuno flew out to center, and Tamiya grounded out to shortstop. Seibu added singles from Nevin in the fifth and Genda in the sixth but could not score. The Lions also got a leadoff single from Watanabe in the fourth before their rally, and their 13-hit attack kept pressure on the Fighters throughout the evening. Nippon-Ham’s defense turned several routine plays behind Itoh, including groundouts to shortstop and second base, to keep the deficit at two.

The Fighters chipped away in the eighth. Yoshida struck out, Reyes struck out, and Mizutani grounded out in the seventh, but the eighth brought new life. Naoki Arizono struck out swinging to begin the inning. Shu Yamagata then singled to shallow center, and after Yuma Imagawa flew out to left, Taiki Narama doubled on the left line to score Yamagata and cut the deficit to one. Tatsuki Mizuno struck out looking to end the inning, but Nippon-Ham had pulled within 3-2. In the ninth, Tamiya flew out to center and Yoshida struck out swinging. With two outs, Reyes doubled to left-center. Kotaro Kiyomiya then singled to shallow right, scoring Reyes and tying the game at 3. Yuya Gunji flew out to right to end the inning, but Nippon-Ham had forced extra innings. It was the most important sequence of the night for the visitors, who had struggled to generate consistent offense against Sumida and the Seibu bullpen.

Neither team scored in the 10th or 11th. Nippon-Ham went down in order in the 10th on a strikeout, a flyout to right and a strikeout. Seibu got a one-out single from Kojima in the 10th, and after Nevin flew out to center, Watanabe singled to third to put runners on first and second. Takeya Nakamura struck out swinging to end the threat. In the 11th, Mizuno singled to shallow center and Tamiya sacrificed him to second. Yoshida flew out to shortstop, and Yuki Nomura was intentionally walked, but Kiyomiya grounded out to first to end the inning. Seibu’s 11th ended with a flyout to left, a groundout to pitcher and a strikeout swinging. In the 12th, Nippon-Ham went down in order on a flyout to right, a groundout to third and a popout to catcher. Seibu got a two-out single from Kojima in the bottom half, but Tyler Nevin grounded out to third, closing the final scoring chance.

The bullpens kept the game tied through the later innings. Seibu’s Hibiki Shinohara struck out two in a hitless inning. Nippon-Ham’s Mizuki Hori allowed two hits and struck out one in a scoreless inning. Taisei Yanagawa pitched a hitless inning. Reo Shibata gave up one hit and struck out one in a scoreless inning. Ren Fukushima struck out one in a hitless inning. Seibu’s Ryosuke Moriwaki tossed a hitless inning. Shunsuke Sato allowed one hit and one walk in a scoreless inning. The combined relief work helped both teams avoid a losing decision in a game that stretched past three and a half hours. The pitching lines also reflected a night of missed opportunities, as the Lions out-hit the Fighters but could not turn their 13 hits into a winning margin.

The result added another tie to the records of both clubs. Nippon-Ham entered after losing three straight at Fukuoka SoftBank, including a 3-2 defeat on Sept. 10, and had won three consecutive games at Tohoku Rakuten before that. Seibu had won three of four at Orix before Friday’s 5-4 loss. The Lions remained ahead of the Fighters in the standings, though the Fighters continued to stay within striking distance. In the most recent head-to-head meetings before Saturday, Nippon-Ham won 9-1 at Seibu on Aug. 26, while Seibu won 3-1 at home on Aug. 25. The teams will continue their series Sunday before Nippon-Ham returns home for games against Chiba Lotte and Seibu, while Seibu travels to Tohoku Rakuten and then Nippon-Ham.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Saitama Seibu Lions 6, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 5. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Nippon-Ham with a 52.4 percent probability to win.