Newly minted starter Koki Kitayama and four relievers came within one out of a combined no-hitter as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters blanked the Seibu Lions 1-0 in the Pacific League on Thursday.

Chusei Mannami put the Fighters ahead with his fifth home run of the year in the top of the seventh at Belluna Dome.

After coming into the season as a reliever, Kitayama (1-1) made a strong impression in his first start. The 24-year-old right-hander struck out five over six innings and walked a pair in an efficient 75-pitch outing.

¡°I¡¯m very happy,¡± Kitayama said. ¡°Thanks to strong communication from catcher (Ariel) Martinez, I was able to throw a good combination of pitches. I had a lot of help from my teammates.¡±

The Lions remained hitless until Aito Takeda¡¯s two-out single in the ninth against Nippon Ham closer Seigi Tanaka, who allowed two runners on before striking out Shuta Tonosaki for the save.

Fighters manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo lauded Kitayama for ¡°perfect pitching¡± in his first start.

¡°While I opted for the change this time, if there¡¯s another chance at a no-hitter, I want him to go for it,¡± Shinjo said.

Seibu starter Wataru Matsumoto (2-2) took the loss after giving up six hits over seven innings, including Mannami¡¯s blast to left field on his 0-1 fastball.

The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles flew past the Lotte Marines 6-0, rallying for five runs in the fifth inning at Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi, while the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks walked off as 8-7 winners over the Orix Buffaloes in 11 innings.

In the Central League, Yoshihiro Maru¡¯s ninth-inning home run saw the Yomiuri Giants walk off with an 8-7 win over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

The CL-leading DeNA BayStars also walked off on a home run, with Toshiro Miyazaki¡¯s solo delivering a 3-2 win against the Hiroshima Carp, while the Hanshin Tigers rallied late for a 3-2 comeback win over the Chunichi Dragons.