Yuta Nakamura pitched three-hit ball over seven innings as the Hiroshima Carp shut out the Yomiuri Giants 5-0 in the day’s only game Friday.

Xavier Batista had two RBI singles and Takayoshi Noma got his first RBI this season in his 77th plate appearance to pace the Central League pennant winner at Mazda Stadium.

The home team opened the scoring in the first inning on a wild pitch by Giants starter Miles Mikolas. Batista and Noma added two runs with their RBI hits in the fourth, while Ryuhei Matsuyama doubled home a run and Batista drove in another the following inning.

Nakamura (5-3) struck out six and walked four in his 114-pitch effort to pick up his first win since Aug. 18. Jay Jackson and Ryuji Ichioka pitched perfect eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

“I thought my teammates would score if I concentrated on my pitching, and the run came pretty early so I pitched with all my might in order to be able to win even with just this one run,” the 22-year-old Nakamura said.

“I want to pitch during the Climax Series playoffs but I won’t get an opportunity to do so unless I have good results. I will prepare myself so that I can pitch whenever I’m needed.”

Mikolas (13-8) gave up all five runs on nine hits and a walk in five innings, his shortest stint this season.

The Giants, currently in fourth place in the CL standings, half a game behind the DeNA BayStars.