Yuki Ariyoshi worked into the eighth inning, and Ikuhiro Kiyota homered as the Chiba Lotte Marines beat the Chunichi Dragons 1-0 in interleague play on Wednesday.
Ariyoshi (1-1) allowed just five runners to reach in his 7⅓ innings. The second-year pitcher gave up three hits and a walk, while hitting a batter and striking out four en route to his first career win as a starter. The win was the Pacific League club's fourth straight.
"I'm really grateful to the pitchers who followed me, (Takahiro) Matsunaga and (closer Tatsuya) Uchi and to catcher (Tatsuhiro) Tamura for calling such a great game. I'm very happy to have been able to manage things from the get-go and give us a chance to win," said Ariyoshi, who put himself in a fourth-inning jam when he hit a batter following a one-out walk.