Former Cleveland Indian Toru Murata pitched eight innings Thursday afternoon as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters topped the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 3-1 and swept their three-game series.
The 32-year-old right-hander, a former No. 1 draft pick of the Yomiuri Giants, won his season debut after giving up one run on four hits, while striking out three.
"The only thing on my mind while I was pitching was that I wanted to win," Murata said. "I'm grateful to the fielders for doing a great job on defense."