• First cut is the deepest: Hokkaido Nippon Ham starter Shohei Otani delivers during the Fighters' 5-1 defeat to the Marines at Sapporo Dome on Sunday. | KYODO
    First cut is the deepest: Hokkaido Nippon Ham starter Shohei Otani delivers during the Fighters' 5-1 defeat to the Marines at Sapporo Dome on Sunday. | KYODO

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SAPPORO – Tadahito Iguchi and Katsuya Kakunaka each homered in the first inning off second-year right-hander Shohei Otani, who suffered his first career defeat on Sunday as the Chiba Lotte Marines beat the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 5-1 to complete a three-game sweep at Sapporo Dome.

The 19-year-old Otani (2-1) allowed five runs in seven innings. He gave up nine hits and walked a batter, while striking out nine. Otani, who is also a left-handed hitting outfielder, is currently batting .391 in 46 at-bats. His career record on the mound fell to 5-1.

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