Keiji Takahashi struck out 10 in his first regular season shutout as the Central League-leading Tokyo Yakult Swallows won their final interleague game 3-0 over the Pacific League's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on Sunday.
A day after Yakult clinched the interleague title, the 25-year-old Takahashi (5-1) squared off against 41-year-old fellow southpaw Tsuyoshi Wada, who turned in a vintage performance.
Wada was done after 96 pitches. He struck out eight, and allowed one hit and two walks over six scoreless innings. Takahashi, however, denied him the chance to tie Swallows lefty Masanori Ishikawa's record of 27 career interleague wins.