Toshiya Sugiuchi stretched his personal winning streak to three games Tuesday when he pitched his second complete game shutout of the season to lift the Softbank Hawks over the Hanshin Tigers 2-0 in interleague play.
Nippon Ham catcher Kazunari Samematsu forces out Yomiuri baserunner Tomohiro Nioka at the
plate in the sixth inning of Tuesday's game at Sapporo Dome.
Sugiuchi (8-1), who was tagged with his only loss on May 10 despite going the distance, struck out 10 and threw a two-hitter in his fifth complete game effort to outduel Naohisa Sugiyama (2-4), who fanned seven and was no less impressive with two runs and five hits through the eighth at Koshien Stadium.
One out after Nobuhiko Matsunaka led off the seventh with a walk, Julio Zuleta broke a scoreless deadlock with a two-run drive -- his 16th homer this season. The Tigers failed to win their third straight as their attack lacked firework.