CHIBA (Interstat) — Shuta Takano pitched six strong innings and Akito Takabe drove in two runs as the Lotte Marines defeated the Nippon-Ham Fighters 6-1 on Sunday evening at Chiba Marine Stadium. Takano, 4-4, allowed one earned run and five hits, walked one and struck out eight. Kohei Arihara, 7-9, took the loss, yielding four earned runs and eight hits over six innings with one walk and one strikeout. Nippon-Ham managed six hits, while Lotte had 10. Yuya Shintoh homered for Nippon-Ham’s lone run. Takabe went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Ryusei Terachi also went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Takahide Ikeda pitched a hitless relief inning with one walk and two strikeouts for Nippon-Ham. Naoya Masuda struck out three in a scoreless inning for Lotte. Kaishu Takahashi and Shota Suzuki each added a scoreless inning of relief for Lotte. The game drew 26,174 fans and took 2:42. Nippon-Ham is 76-62-3, and Lotte is 61-71-3.