Kazuhisa Makita, the Seibu's submarine right-hander, scattered eight hits over the distance for his first shutout of the season as the Pacific League-leading Lions beat the Chiba Lotte Marines 8-0 on Tuesday night.
The Lions took the lead on a fourth-inning sacrifice fly by Esteban German. Ginjiro Sumitani scored for Seibu in the fifth after a leadoff single, a wild pitch and back-to-back groundouts. Marines pitchers issued five walks in the eighth as the Lions put the game away.
Makita (3-0), who was the closer for Japan in the recent World Baseball Classic, walked one batter, hit another and did not strike anyone out in a 125-pitch effort. Marines right-hander Yuji Nishino (2-1) worked seven innings, allowing six hits and a walk while striking out three in suffering the first loss of his career.