Tomoyuki Sugano paid Hanshin back for his only loss of the season with seven scoreless innings as the Yomiuri Giants held off the Tigers 1-0 in the Central League on Tuesday.

Before 46,227 at Koshien Stadium, Sugano (6-1) dueled Takumi Akiyama for six scoreless innings before Giants catcher Seiji Kobayashi's bloop RBI double made it a 1-0 game in the seventh.

That lead was instantly endangered in the bottom half, when the first two Tigers batters reached, only for Sugano to register three strikeouts. The right-hander allowed six hits and two walks, while striking out six.