Tatsuya Imai came out on top in a rookie pitching duel Sunday as the Seibu Lions' lineup slugged early against the SoftBank Hawks for an 8-5 win in the Pacific League.
Imai (5-4) fanned four and yielded three runs at MetLife Dome. The right-hander, who was the Lions' first round pick in the 2016 draft, was bolstered by back-to-back four-run innings.
SoftBank left-hander Kotaro Otake (2-1) allowed eight runs in 1⅔ innings and suffered his first loss of the season.