The Yomiuri Giants may have been planning to honor nine-year veteran Tomohiro Nioka on Friday night, but it was pitcher Tetsuya Utsumi who stole the show.

News photoYomiuri Giants starter Tetsuya Utsumi delivers a pitch against the Hiroshima Carp en route to a two-hit shutout victory on Friday at Tokyo Dome. The Giants won 3-0. KYODO PHOTO

Utsumi (9-5) struck out 10 en route to a two-hit complete game shutout as the Giants defeated the Hiroshima Carp 3-0 in front of 39,368 fans on "Nioka Day" at Tokyo Dome. Utsumi didn't allow a baserunner until the fifth inning and only walked one to register his second complete game of the season.

Referring to Giants catcher Shinnosuke Abe, Utsumi said, "He called a great game, and I just followed his lead. It turned out to be one of the best games I've ever pitched."

Only Hiroshima outfielder Jun Hirose had any measure of success against Utsumi. Hirose accounted for both Carp hits as the Central League's last-place team only managed to get four runners on base.

Alex Ochoa, who led off the fifth with a walk, and Eishin Soyogi, who was hit with a pitch in the ninth, were the only other Hiroshima players to get on base.

Nioka hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first and capped a 2-for-4 night with a double in the eighth inning.

"I heard before the game it was 'Nioka Day,' the Yomiuri shortstop said. "So I thought I had better do something to help the team win tonight."

Damon Hollins also homered for the Giants, who won their third straight game after going 5-15 from June 24 to July 24. The shot was Hollins' ninth of the year, and the Giants have not lost a game this season in which Hollins hit a home run.

'I wish I could do it every night if that's the case," Hollins said.

Masayuki Hasegawa (1-2) pitched a solid game in defeat, allowing all three runs on six hits over seven innings. The right-hander had a scare in the fifth after Yoshitomo Tani lined a single off his leg. The Carp starter appeared to be OK afterward and pitched two more innings.

The Giants have hit four first-inning home runs in their last three games.

Leadoff man Yoshinobu Takahashi and third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara went deep in the first frame of the Giants' 13-7 win at home against Yokohama on Wednesday.

Takahashi also opened the next day's game against the BayStars with a homer.

Things are beginning to look up for the CL leaders, who seem to be getting over the rough stretch they experienced over the past few weeks.

"Utsumi pitched a great game and I like the fact he only walked one," Giants manager Tatsunori Hara said.

More good news for the team: Starter Jeremy Powell is set to return from a knee injury that has sidelined him all season.

Powell, 10-10 with a 3.31 ERA in 2006, made two rehab starts with Yomiuri's farm team before rejoining the first team for practice on Tuesday.

Powell is expected to be activated before Saturday's game with the Carp, and he is said to be the likely starter.

Swallows 11, Dragons 4

At Tokyo's Jingu Stadium, Aaron Guiel went deep twice to drive in three runs in providing the brunt of offense as Tokyo Yakult snapped a five-game losing skid in a romp over Chunichi.

Tigers 5, BayStars 2

At Koshien Stadium, Keiji Uezono allowed four hits in five scoreless innings, setting the pace as Hanshin downed Yokohama to win its sixth in a row.

Tuffy belts pair

KOBE (Kyodo) Tuffy Rhodes homered twice and Hidetaka Kawagoe threw six-plus effective innings as the Orix Buffaloes beat the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 7-5 to crawl out of last place in the Pacific League on Friday.

Game postponed

FUKUOKA (Kyodo) The other PL game scheduled for Friday, between the Softbank Hawks and the Seibu Lions, was postponed as Seibu players' arrival at Fukuoka airport was delayed by about 3 1/2 hours until shortly before 5 p.m. due to technical problems with the aircraft at Haneda airport. No makeup date has been announced.