Tetsuya Utsumi outpitched Kazuki Yoshimi in a marquee matchup of aces as the Yomiuri Giants edged the Chunichi Dragons 3-2 on Thursday.
Utsumi (1-2) allowed two runs, one earned, and eight hits in eight innings, walking two and striking out six in a 120-pitch outing at Tokyo Dome.
Shinnosuke Abe delivered a two-run single in a three-run third inning off Yoshimi (2-1), who was pulled after six innings.
Masahiko Morino had an RBI double in the eighth, his third hit of the night, to bring Chunichi within a run, but Yomiuri closer Kentaro Nishimura got the job done in the ninth for his third save.
The 2011 Central League champion Dragons have lost four of their last five games with one tie.
BayStars 4, Swallows 0
At Jingu Stadium, Daisuke Miura threw his first shutout of the season, leading Yokohama past Tokyo Yakult.
Miura (2-0) repeatedly got in and out of jams while giving up six hits and walking three. His battery-mate Toshiki Kurobane doubled in two runs in a three-run fourth inning off Orlando Roman (0-2).
Tigers 1, Carp 1 (10)
At Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium, Carp ace Kenta Maeda followed last week’s no-hitter with seven frames of one-run ball in a tie with Hanshin.
Shota Dobayashi singled in a run for Hiroshima in the second inning and Tigers pinch hitter Shinjiro Hiyama tied the score with an RBI single in the seventh.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Hawks 4, Fighters 0
At Fukuoka’s Yahoo Dome, Kenji Otonari (1-0) pitched a three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts as Softbank beat Hokkaido Nippon Ham for its sixth win in seven games.
Nobuhiko Matsunaka opened the scoring with an RBI single in the fourth off Brian Wolfe (1-1), who gave up three runs in 6⅓ innings. Nobuhiro Matsuda had three hits for Softbank.
Buffaloes 3, Marines 1
At Chiba’s QVC Marine Field, Takahiro Okada capped his three-hit night with a solo home run in the ninth inning as Orix beat Chiba Lotte.
Evan MacLane (2-0) allowed one run and two hits in six innings. Hayden Penn (0-1) took the loss.
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