Rookie Sho Miyagawa allowed just one hit in seven innings Monday as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles beat the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 5-0 and Japan's newest franchise moved closer to its first Pacific League pennant.
The Eagles, who began playing as an expansion team in 2005, lowered their magic number to clinch the pennant to three. They beat the Fighters for the sixth straight time. Rakuten can clinch as early as Wednesday, when the Eagles take on the Seibu Lions at Seibu Dome.
Miyagawa (2-0) was making his first career start. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed five walks, but kept the defending PL champs, currently the cellar dwellers, hitless until the sixth inning.