SAPPORO (Interstat) — Kota Tatsu struck out seven over seven innings, Yuki Nomura had two hits and drove in two runs, and the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters beat the Saitama Seibu Lions 4-2 on Thursday night at Sapporo Dome. Tatsu allowed two hits and two earned runs while walking two. He improved to 5-7 on the season. The Fighters moved to 73-57-3. The Lions dropped to 73-56-4. Attendance was 29,723. The game took 2 hours, 38 minutes.

Kota Tatsu entered off a difficult outing. On Sept. 9 at SoftBank, he lasted 3 2/3 innings and allowed seven hits and four earned runs with five strikeouts in a loss. On Thursday, he was sharper. He held Seibu to two hits across seven innings, struck out seven and walked two. The only damage against him came on Tyler Nevin’s two-run home run. Tatsu retired the side in order in the second and third innings. He worked around a first-inning walk and a sixth-inning walk and hit batter. He left with the lead and handed the ball to the bullpen.

Seibu had chances but could not capitalize. In the first, Alexander Canario walked and Natsuo Takizawa sacrificed him to second, but Taiga Kojima grounded out and Nevin flew out. In the sixth, Kojima was hit by a pitch and Nevin walked, but Seiya Watanabe flew out to center. In the eighth, Canario walked with one out, but Tatsu’s successors retired the next two hitters. The Lions finished with two hits and did not get a runner past first base after the sixth inning.

Nippon-Ham’s bullpen finished the job. Mizuki Hori pitched a scoreless inning, walked one and struck out three. Taisei Yanagawa worked a scoreless ninth, did not allow a hit and earned his 26th save. The combination of Tatsu, Hori and Yanagawa limited Seibu to two hits and kept the Lions from mounting a late rally. Seibu struck out 10 times as a team.

Nomura powered the Nippon-Ham offense. He went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. He capped a two-run third inning with an RBI single and added a solo home run to center in the sixth. The home run gave Nippon-Ham a two-run cushion. Kotaro Kiyomiya also singled in a run in the third, and Yuya Shintoh hit a solo home run to left in the fifth. That homer put Nippon-Ham back in front after Seibu had tied the score. Haruki Nishikawa had two singles, while Yuya Gunji and Shu Yamagata also singled. Ryohei Hosokawa stole second base in the eighth, but Nippon-Ham could not add another run.

Seibu’s scoring came on one swing. Tyler Nevin went 1 for 3 with a two-run home run, two RBIs and a walk. His homer to right accounted for both Seibu runs. Taiga Kojima singled and scored on the homer. Canario walked twice and Takizawa sacrificed a runner into scoring position in the first inning, but Seibu could not string together enough offense. The Lions went hitless after the fourth and did not draw another walk after the eighth.

Shinya Sugai took the loss for Seibu. He pitched five innings, allowed six hits and three earned runs while striking out five. He fell to 2-3 on the season. Taishi Mameda followed with a scoreless inning, striking out two. Yuta Nakamura recorded one out without allowing a hit or a run. Shunsuke Sato got two outs, allowed one hit and struck out one. Yuta Kuroki pitched one inning, allowed one hit and one earned run. The Seibu bullpen kept the game close, but the offense could not solve Nippon-Ham’s late relievers.

The win was Nippon-Ham’s third in the last five meetings with Seibu. The teams had split a three-game series earlier in September, with Nippon-Ham winning 7-1 on Sept. 13 and playing to a 3-3 tie in 12 innings on Sept. 12. Seibu had lost 1-0 at Tohoku Rakuten on Sept. 15. Nippon-Ham had lost 7-6 to Chiba Lotte on Sept. 15. Thursday’s result gave Nippon-Ham a 73-57-3 record and left Seibu at 73-56-4.

Seibu had entered the series after a 1-0 loss at Tohoku Rakuten on Sept. 15. Nippon-Ham had dropped a 7-6 decision to Chiba Lotte on Sept. 15. The Fighters had also won 7-1 at Seibu on Sept. 13 before the 12-inning tie. Earlier in the season, Nippon-Ham won 9-1 at Seibu on Aug. 26, while Seibu won 3-1 on Aug. 25. Seibu had won two of three at Nippon-Ham from Aug. 11-13, including a 1-0 victory on Aug. 11 and a 5-2 win on Aug. 12. Nippon-Ham answered with an 8-2 win on Aug. 13.

Nippon-Ham will host Orix on Saturday, Sept. 19. Seibu will travel to Chiba Lotte on Saturday, Sept. 19. Both teams continue their schedules with series that could affect the Pacific League standings. Nippon-Ham remains in the hunt for a playoff position. Seibu remains ahead in the loss column but has little room for error.

The game’s most important stretch came when Nippon-Ham answered Seibu’s two-run fourth with immediate pressure. Shintoh’s solo homer in the fifth restored the lead, and Nomura’s solo shot in the sixth gave the bullpen room. Tatsu’s seven innings were the foundation. He limited a Seibu lineup that had scored eight runs at Orix on Sept. 10. Tatsu’s mix of strikeouts and weak contact kept Seibu from building innings. Hori then overpowered Seibu, and Yanagawa closed the door in the ninth.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Saitama Seibu Lions 1, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 0. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Nippon-Ham with a 58.8 percent probability to win. Nippon-Ham had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 6 went over the over/under line of 7.5.