SAPPORO (Interstat) — Yuma Mune hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Ryoma Nishikawa drove in three runs as the Orix Buffaloes defeated the Nippon-Ham Fighters 9-6 on Sunday afternoon at Sapporo Dome. The Buffaloes, playing as the visiting team, collected 15 hits and improved to 63-70-2. The Fighters finished with eight hits and fell to 73-59-3. Taito Takashima earned the win, Kohei Arihara took the loss, and Andres Machado recorded his 33rd save. The game drew 34,235 and lasted 3 hours, 22 minutes.

Orix struck first against Arihara. Ryoma Nishikawa grounded out to shortstop to open the game, and Ryoto Kita flew out to third. Ryo Ohta kept the inning alive with a single to shallow left. Yutaro Sugimoto was hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second. Mune then hit a home run to right, scoring three runs. Kotaro Kurebayashi popped out to left to end the inning, but the Buffaloes had an early 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the first, Kengo Yoshida flew out to right, Tatsuki Mizuno grounded out to second, and Reo Shibata reached on an error before Yuki Nomura grounded out to shortstop. The error did not hurt Orix. In the top of the second, Ryoma Yamanaka walked and Tomoya Noguchi singled to shallow right. Shuna Hori grounded out to first, moving both runners into scoring position. Nishikawa then singled to shallow right, driving in two runs. Kita followed with a grounder to first that turned into a double play, ending the inning with Orix ahead 5-0.

The Fighters got on the board in the bottom of the second. Chusei Mannami grounded out to third, but Kotaro Kiyomiya hit a solo home run to right. Ruan Ohtsuka grounded out to second, and Yuya Shintoh singled to shallow center. Taiki Narama singled to shallow left, putting runners on first and second, but Yoshida grounded out to first to end the threat. Orix led 5-1.

In the top of the third, Ohta singled to shallow right, but Sugimoto struck out swinging. Mune singled to shallow right, and Kurebayashi singled to shallow left to load the bases. Yamanaka grounded into a double play to end the inning. Nippon-Ham took advantage in the bottom half. Mizuno doubled to center and Shibata singled to shallow center to score him. Nomura flew out to right, and after a groundout and another out, the inning ended with Orix ahead 5-2.

Orix threatened again in the fourth. Noguchi grounded out to first, and Hori singled to shallow right. Nishikawa grounded into a double play to end the inning. Nippon-Ham could not capitalize in the bottom half. Kiyomiya walked, but Ohtsuka grounded out to second, Shintoh struck out swinging, and Narama grounded out to the pitcher. Takashima kept the score at 5-2.

The Buffaloes broke the game open in the fifth. Kita singled to shallow right and stole second. Ohta singled to shallow center to drive in Kita. Sugimoto singled to shallow left, and Mune walked to load the bases. Kurebayashi singled to shallow left to score one run. Yamanaka grounded out to the pitcher, but Noguchi singled to shallow right to score another. Hori then grounded into a double play, ending the inning with Orix ahead 8-2.

Nippon-Ham fought back in the sixth. Nomura hit a solo home run to right. Mannami grounded out to third. Kiyomiya then hit his second solo home run, this one to left. Ohtsuka struck out swinging, and Shintoh struck out swinging to end the inning. Orix led 8-4. Takashima completed six innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

In the seventh, Mune flew out to center and Kurebayashi popped out to first. Yamanaka singled to second, and Noguchi walked. Hori struck out looking to end the inning. Nippon-Ham went down in order. Narama struck out looking, Ryohei Hosokawa struck out swinging, and Mizuno grounded out to second. The Fighters could not cut into the deficit.

Orix added a run in the eighth. Nishikawa hit a solo home run to right. Kita popped out to third, Ohta grounded out to third, and Sugimoto walked. Mune flew out to first to end the inning. The Buffaloes led 9-4. Nippon-Ham went down in order in the bottom half. Shibata grounded out to first, Nomura flew out to catcher, and Mannami grounded out to shortstop.

In the ninth, Kurebayashi flew out to shortstop, Ryoma Ikeda flew out to right, and Noguchi grounded out to first. Nippon-Ham made a final push in the bottom half. Kiyomiya walked and Ohtsuka singled to shallow right. Yuya Gunji walked to load the bases. Shun Mizutani walked to force in a run. Yua Tamiya grounded out to first, scoring another run. Mizuno struck out swinging, and Shibata grounded out to second to end the game. Orix won 9-6.

Mune finished 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. He also homered in Saturday’s 7-4 win over the Fighters. Nishikawa went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Kiyomiya was 2-for-2 with two home runs and two RBIs. Nomura went 1-for-4 with a home run and one RBI. Seigi Tanaka pitched two innings of relief for Nippon-Ham, allowing one hit and no earned runs with two walks and two strikeouts. Naoki Miyanishi added a scoreless inning. Reiji Higashiyama struck out two in a scoreless inning for Orix. Ren Mukunoki worked a scoreless inning. Machado closed out the ninth for his 33rd save, allowing no hits and no earned runs with one walk and one strikeout. Takashima improved to 7-5. Arihara fell to 7-8.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Nippon-Ham Fighters 1, Orix Buffaloes 0. Interstat’s ELO system gave Nippon-Ham a 64.3 percent probability to win. Nippon-Ham had been installed as the pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 15 went under the over/under line of 8.0.