Hanshin Tigers rookie Shoki Murakami showed Pacific League hitters what he's capable of Tuesday, throwing eight innings in the Central League leaders' 3-1 win over the Seibu Lions on the opening night of interleague play.
Murakami (5-1) allowed a run on four hits and no walks while striking out nine at Belluna Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture.
"I wanted to give the team some momentum with my pitching in the first game," Murakami said. "My control was good and I was able to do those things I need to do."
The Tigers scored two runs in the first, opening the scoring on back-to-back triples by Koji Chikamoto and Takumu Nakano, who scored on a Sheldon Neuse groundout.
The Lions made it 2-1 in the third and threatened in the fourth, but Murakami struck out former Tiger teammate Naomasa Yokawa to preserve the lead.
"Yokawa is a really good hitter, and I was a little scared, but I got out of the jam," Murakami said.
Neuse singled in a fifth-inning insurance run, and Hanshin cruised the rest of the way. Atsuki Yuasa worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save to seal the Tigers' ninth straight win, matching their longest win streak in 16 years.
In other interleague games, 23-year-old Chusei Mannami homered twice off 43-year-old Masanori Ishikawa (1-3) as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters handed two-time defending CL champs the Tokyo Yakult Swallows their 11th straight losing decision, 2-1.
The PL-leading Chiba Lotte Marines beat the Yomiuri Giants 2-1, while the defending PL champion Orix Buffaloes blanked the Hiroshima Carp 4-0 behind eight innings of two-hit ball from Yoshinobu Yamamoto (4-2). The CL's Yokohama DeNA BayStars beat the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 3-2 and the PL's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks clobbered the Chunichi Dragons 13-5.