Yomiuri slugger Hideki Matsui belted his 33rd homer of the year and ace Koji Uehara pitched eight solid innings as the Central League-leading Giants beat the Chunichi Dragons 4-1 at the Nagoya Dome on Saturday.
Uehara (15-3) gave up one run on a solo homer by Kosuke Fukudome in the fourth inning, seven hits all together, and walked three. He struck out six in picking up his CL leading 15th win.
Tied 0-0 in the fourth, with none out and runners on first and second, Matsui drilled a three-run homer into the right-field bleachers to grab a share of the lead in the CL home-run race with Roberto Petagine of the Yakult Swallows.