Yoshinobu Takahashi singled home the go-ahead run in the fifth and Yomiuri slugger Hideki Matsui drilled a two-run homer in the eighth as the Central League-leading Giants won the first of a three-game series against the Hanshin Tigers 4-1 at the Tokyo Dome on Friday.
Lefty Hisanori Takahashi scattered two hits over seven innings, allowing one run on a solo homer by Osamu Hamanaka in the second inning, to pick up his seventh win against one loss.
Closer Junichi Kawahara worked the ninth and notched his 15th save as the Giants won their fourth straight.