Yu Darvish outdueled Hisashi Iwakuma in his second complete-game shutout of the season Thursday as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters blanked the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles 1-0 to win their fourth straight game.
Darvish (3-0) took a no-hitter into the sixth and finished with a three-hitter while striking out six and walking one in a 95-pitch outing at Sapporo Dome. Terrmel Sledge gave Darvish the only run he would need with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Iwakuma (2-1) was equally impressive, holding the Fighters hitless in the first six innings before giving up a leadoff single to Hichori Morimoto in the bottom of the seventh.