Rookie right-hander Naoto Nishiguchi pitched 4⅓ innings in emergency relief to earn his first pro win as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles beat the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 3-2 in the Pacific League on Saturday.
The win at Sendai's Rakuten Seimei Park pulled the Eagles into a tie for first place with a 35-29 record, the same as the Orix Buffaloes, who tied 3-3 with the Seibu Lions in Osaka.
Nishiguchi (1-0) took over with two outs in the first inning after starting pitcher Koichi Takada received an automatic ejection for hitting a batter in the head. Nishiguchi inherited two runners but ended the inning by retiring the first of seven straight hitters.