Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched six innings and claimed his first win since returning to Nippon Professional Baseball in the Chunichi Dragons' 3-1 victory over the Yokohama BayStars on Monday.
Former major leaguer Matsuzaka (1-2) limited the BayStars to one run on three hits, while issuing seven walks, and striking out six, to help the Dragons snap their losing streak at four. The win was his first NPB victory since 2006, before he moved to the Boston Red Sox.
"The team was having a difficult time, and it feels amazing to earn my first win in a long time in front of so many people," Matsuzaka said before a holiday crowd of 36,606. "Our opponent is really good, but I really wanted to stop our losing streak so I was just gunning from the beginning.