FUKUOKA (Interstat) — Yugo Maeda allowed one earned run over five innings, Tomoya Masaki hit a go-ahead two-run homer, and the SoftBank Hawks beat the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 6-2 on Friday evening in Game 3 of their playoff series at Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka. Maeda scattered five hits, walked one and struck out three. The Hawks’ bullpen followed with four scoreless innings, and SoftBank outhit Nippon-Ham 11-8. Takayuki Katoh took the loss after giving up three earned runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. Attendance was 39,894, and the game lasted 3 hours, 2 minutes. The win gave SoftBank a 3-0 lead in the playoff series.

SoftBank improved to 94-50-3, while Nippon-Ham fell to 81-66-3. The Hawks had won the first two games of the series and kept their momentum after the Fighters struck first. Nippon-Ham opened the scoring in the top of the first. Yuya Gunji doubled to left, Tatsuki Mizuno walked, and after Franmil Reyes struck out swinging and Yuki Nomura flied out to left, Kotaro Kiyomiya singled to shallow right to score Gunji. Chusei Mannami then flied out to second, ending the inning.

Katoh retired the side in order in the bottom of the first. Masaki grounded out to shortstop, Ukyo Shuto flied out to left, and Kensuke Kondoh flied out to third. Nippon-Ham put a runner on in the second when Yua Tamiya singled to shallow center with one out, but Taiki Narama grounded into a double play to shortstop. SoftBank also got a runner in the second when Ryoya Kurihara was hit by a pitch, but Yuki Yanagita flied out to center and Taisei Makihara grounded into a double play.

The Hawks tied the game in the bottom of the third. Yuudai Yamamoto doubled to left-center, moved to third on Tatsuru Yanagimachi’s groundout to first, and scored on Yudai Shoji’s single to shallow left. Shoji stole second later in the inning, but Shuto flied out to left. Nippon-Ham went down in order in the top of the fourth, with Nomura flying out to second, Kiyomiya flying out to center and Mannami striking out swinging.

Katoh worked around trouble in the bottom of the fourth. Kondoh flied out to center, but Kurihara singled to shallow right and Yanagita singled to shallow right to put runners on first and second. Makihara lined out to first, and Yamamoto struck out swinging to end the inning.

Nippon-Ham reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth. Shu Yamagata singled to second, and Tamiya reached on an error after grounding out to first, putting runners on second and third. Narama grounded out to third, Gunji struck out swinging, and Mizuno singled to second to score a run. Reyes grounded out to shortstop, but the Fighters had moved ahead.

The decisive sequence came in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Shoji doubled to left-center. Masaki then homered to left-center, scoring two runs and giving SoftBank the lead for good. Shuto doubled down the left line after the home run, but Kondoh grounded out to first and Kurihara flied out to third, ending the inning.

SoftBank added to its lead in the sixth. Makihara walked with one out, and Yamamoto tripled to right to bring him home. Yanagimachi followed with a single to shallow right that scored Yamamoto. Shoji flied out to left, and Masaki grounded out to shortstop, but the Hawks had stretched their advantage.

The Hawks scored again in the seventh. Shuto singled on the left line, Kondoh singled to shallow right, and Kurihara was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Yanagita struck out swinging for the first out, but Makihara lifted a sacrifice fly to left that scored Shuto. Yamamoto grounded out to third to end the inning.

Nippon-Ham went down quietly in the top of the third. Gunji grounded out to shortstop, Mizuno flied out to center and Reyes flied out to left. In the top of the sixth, Nomura singled to shallow left with nobody out, but Kiyomiya, Mannami and Shibata all struck out swinging. The Fighters also went in order in the seventh, as Tamiya struck out swinging, Narama flied out to center and Gunji grounded out to shortstop. SoftBank went quietly in the bottom of the eighth, as Yanagimachi struck out looking, Shoji grounded out to second and Masaki struck out swinging.

Nippon-Ham threatened in the eighth but could not convert. Mizuno singled to shallow right and Reyes singled to shallow center, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Nomura struck out looking, Kiyomiya grounded out to second, and Mannami flied out to center. In the ninth, Reo Shibata grounded out to first, Tamiya struck out swinging, Ruan Ohtsuka walked, and Gunji struck out swinging to end the game.

Maeda earned the win and moved to 13-1. Katoh fell to 12-4. Masaki finished 1 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs. Yamamoto went 2 for 4 with one RBI, and Shoji went 2 for 4 with one RBI. Katoh allowed three earned runs over 4 1/3 innings, yielding six hits and striking out one. Nippon-Ham’s Taisei Yanagawa tossed one scoreless inning with two strikeouts. SoftBank’s Gota Suzuki struck out three and allowed one hit in a scoreless inning, Darwinzon Hernandez struck out one in a perfect inning, Yuki Matsumoto allowed two hits in a scoreless inning with one strikeout, and Kazuki Sugiyama worked a scoreless inning with a walk and two strikeouts.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Nippon-Ham 8, SoftBank 7. Interstat’s ELO system gave SoftBank a 64.4 percent probability to win. SoftBank had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 8 went under the over/under line of 6.5.