Ayumu Ishikawa held the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to a run over seven innings in his first start of the season as the Chiba Lotte Marines won 6-2 on Tuesday, handing the first back-to-back loss of the season to the Pacific League-leading club.
Ishikawa (1-0) gave up two-out doubles to Hiroaki Shimauchi and Hideto Asamura in the first inning to hand the home team the lead. But the right-hander picked up, striking out five without a walk on seven hits in an 87-pitch effort before leaving the mound with a 3-1 lead.
Koki Yamaguchi tied the game in the top of the second with a solo home run off Rakuten's Takayuki Kishi (2-1). With runners on the corners with two outs in the sixth, a catching error by Rakuten catcher Takahiro Shimotsuma handed Lotte the go-ahead run before Yamaguchi again drove in a run, this time with an RBI single.