OSAKA (Interstat) — Haru Matsumoto pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, as the SoftBank Hawks blanked the Orix Buffaloes 9-0 on Friday evening at Osaka Dome. Matsumoto earned the win, improving to 12-3. Mu-Heng Chen took the loss, falling to 0-1. SoftBank collected 11 hits while limiting Orix to three. Yuki Yanagita, Yudai Shoji, Kensuke Kondoh, Ryoya Kurihara and Taisei Makihara each drove in runs during a balanced offensive effort. Ryoga Tomiyama worked 1.1 scoreless innings with one hit and one walk for Orix, while Ryusei Gonda added two scoreless innings with one hit and two walks. Gota Suzuki, Darwinzon Hernandez and Yusuke Itoh each tossed a scoreless inning of relief for SoftBank. Reiji Higashiyama and Yoshihisa Hirano also contributed scoreless relief for Orix. The Hawks’ pitching staff combined for the shutout. The game took two hours, 54 minutes and drew 36,138 fans. SoftBank improved to 87-48-3, while Orix dropped to 65-72-2.