OSAKA (Interstat) — Haru Matsumoto pitched six scoreless innings and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks defeated the Orix Buffaloes 9-0 on Friday evening at Osaka Dome. Matsumoto allowed two hits, issued no walks and struck out six while earning the win. He improved to 12 wins and 3 losses on the season. SoftBank, the visiting team, improved to 87 wins, 48 losses and 3 ties. Orix, the home team, dropped to 65 wins, 72 losses and 2 ties. The Hawks finished with 11 hits, while the Buffaloes had three. The loss went to Mu-Heng Chen, who fell to 0 wins and 1 loss.

SoftBank scored six runs in a big first inning and added three in the second, taking control before Orix could settle in. The Hawks loaded the bases and pressured the Buffaloes with timely hitting and walks. Tatsuru Yanagimachi doubled on the left line to open the game. Yuki Yanagita followed with a single to shallow center that scored one run. Kensuke Kondoh walked, Ryoya Kurihara flew out to center, and Taisei Makihara reached on an error after grounding out to shortstop. Hotaka Yamakawa walked to load the bases, and Yoshiyasu Sasagawa grounded out to first for another run. Takashi Umino walked, and Yudai Shoji singled to shallow right to drive in two runs. Shoji then stole second, and Yanagimachi walked before Yanagita grounded out to second. The early rally forced Orix to turn to its bullpen.

Orix’s bullpen followed Chen. Ryoga Tomiyama pitched 1.1 innings, allowing one hit and no earned runs while walking one. Ryusei Gonda worked two innings, giving up one hit and no earned runs with two walks. Gota Suzuki of SoftBank pitched one inning, allowing no hits and no earned runs with one strikeout. Darwinzon Hernandez also threw one inning for SoftBank, yielding no hits and no earned runs with one strikeout. Yusuke Itoh followed with one inning, allowing one hit and no earned runs while striking out one. Kaito Saiki of Orix recorded two outs without allowing a hit or an earned run. Reiji Higashiyama pitched one inning, surrendering one hit and no earned runs with one walk and two strikeouts. Yoshihisa Hirano got one out, allowing no hits or earned runs with one strikeout. Kaito Iriyama pitched one inning, allowing no hits or earned runs with two walks.

SoftBank’s bullpen preserved the shutout behind Matsumoto. Suzuki, Hernandez and Itoh combined for three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. Matsumoto had also pitched effectively against Orix in his previous start against the Buffaloes, when he allowed six hits and one earned run over five innings with one walk and two strikeouts in a win. His latest outing kept Orix off the scoreboard and off the basepaths for most of the evening. The Buffaloes never advanced a runner past second base after their best chance in the second inning.

Orix managed only three hits. Kotaro Kurebayashi doubled to center in the second inning, and Ryo Ohta singled to shallow center in the fourth. Ryoma Nishikawa singled to shallow right in the ninth. The Buffaloes’ best opportunity came in the second after Yuma Mune was hit by a pitch and Kurebayashi doubled, putting runners on second and third with one out. Ryoma Ikeda struck out swinging, and Ho Naito flew out to center to end the threat. In the fourth, Ohta singled but was stranded. In the ninth, Nishikawa’s single was erased when Ryo Ohta grounded into a double play to end the game. SoftBank’s defense also turned outs behind its pitchers, including the game-ending double play.

SoftBank added to its lead with a three-run burst. Kensuke Kondoh singled to shallow center to drive in one run, Ryoya Kurihara singled to shallow right for another, and Taisei Makihara singled to shallow left to bring home a third. The Hawks also got a single from Akira Nakamura in the seventh. Yanagimachi reached base multiple times, while Yanagita, Kondoh, Kurihara, Makihara, Sasagawa, Umino and Shoji all contributed to the scoring. SoftBank finished with 11 hits and took advantage of Orix mistakes and free passes. The Hawks also drew walks in key spots and kept pressure on the Buffaloes’ pitching staff throughout the game.

SoftBank threatened again in the fourth when Sasagawa doubled on the left line, but Umino flew out to right, Shoji flew out to center and Yanagimachi flew out to right. In the fifth, Yanagita and Kondoh struck out before Kurihara walked and Makihara singled, but Yamakawa grounded out to third. The sixth brought another walk to Umino, yet Shoji flew out and Yanagimachi grounded out. Nakamura singled in the seventh, and Kurihara walked, but Makihara grounded out and Riku Ogata lined out to first. In the eighth, Umino and Yanagimachi drew walks, but Sasagawa popped out, Shoji popped out and Kenta Imamiya flew out to right. The ninth ended quietly with Nakamura striking out and Kurihara and Hikaru Kawase flying out.

Orix went down in order in the third, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth. In the third, Shuna Hori grounded out to the pitcher, Nishikawa struck out and Ryoto Kita flew out to center. In the fifth, Ikeda flew out to center, Naito struck out and Hori grounded out to third. The sixth saw Nishikawa ground out, Kita strike out and Ohta fly out to center. In the seventh, Yutaro Sugimoto struck out, Mune flew out to left and Kurebayashi flew out to center. The eighth brought groundouts from Ikeda and Hori around a strikeout by Naito.

The game took 2 hours, 54 minutes. Attendance at Osaka Dome was 36,138. SoftBank was the visiting team, and Orix was the home team. The Hawks continued a strong season and improved their record to 87 wins, 48 losses and 3 ties. The Buffaloes fell to 65 wins, 72 losses and 2 ties. Matsumoto was the winning pitcher. Chen was the losing pitcher.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 11, Orix Buffaloes 8. Interstat’s ELO system had projected SoftBank with a 64.7 percent probability to win.