Hiroto Saiki delivered another strong performance in his comeback from Tommy John surgery with six innings in the Hanshin Tigers' 8-0 win over the Hiroshima Carp in a game shortened to six innings by rain on Thursday.
The win at Hanshin's Koshien Stadium outside Osaka moved the third-place Tigers four games ahead of the Yomiuri Giants in the Central League standings. The top three teams in each league advance to the postseason.
The 23-year-old Saiki (3-1), who missed most of 2019 and all of the past two seasons, struck out nine while allowing three hits and two walks through the six innings. He was credited with a complete game after the contest was called in the bottom of the sixth.
"Every time he goes out he pitches a good game for us," Tigers manager Akihiro Yano said. "His fastball was particularly good tonight. The strikeouts are a testament to that."
Yusuke Oyama broke the ice with a third-inning RBI single off Yusuke Nomura (2-3). Koji Chikamoto homered to make it 2-0 in the fifth, and Mel Rojas Jr. singled in the Tigers' third run off Nomura.
The Tigers turned the game into a rout with five runs in the bottom of the sixth before the rain forced the umps to end it.
The second-place DeNA BayStars moved to within six games of the idle first-place Yakult Swallows with a 7-0 win and a three-game sweep of the Chunichi Dragons.
In the Pacific League, Manabu Mima (7-6) tossed seven innings as the fifth-place Chiba Lotte Marines blew past the second-place Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 7-0, while the fourth-place Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles survived a ninth-inning scare to hold off the third-place Orix Buffaloes 11-8.