Wataru Karashima pitched seven scoreless innings as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles defeated the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 3-1 on Tuesday for their third straight win.

Karashima (1-0) limited the Fighters to three hits and two walks, while striking out eight in the Eagles’ first home game of the season at Rakuten Seimei Park. The game was delayed for about 20 minutes in the first inning due to heavy snow.

He opened with a 1-2-3 first but pitched into a jam in the following inning, when he put two batters on base with no outs. But the 28-year-old got the next three hitters to fly out.

“It was very cold but I managed to (keep my concentration),” Karashima said. “I was able to focus on one batter at a time. I think we are off to a good start so I want to keep winning.”

Hiroaki Shimauchi drove in the opening run and Hideto Asamura, who joined the Eagles during the offseason, blasted an eighth-inning, two-run home run in front of a crowd of 27,096.

Eigoro Mogi led off the fourth with a double against righty Johnny Barbato and scored on Shimauchi’s RBI single to left field. After flying out in his next at-bat in the sixth, Mogi hit a triple in the eighth inning and scored on Asamura’s first homer of the season.

A former Seibu Lions captain, Asamura joined the Eagles as a domestic free agent. He led the PL with RBIs last season and helped the Lions win the Pacific League pennant.

“I’m really happy. I thought a sacrifice would be enough (for Mogi to score) so I didn’t feel tense,” Asamura said.

Rakuten reliever Yuki Matsui surrendered a run in the ninth after loading the bases with one out. But he managed to fan the final batter to limit the damage.

Pitching second for the Fighters after starter Takayuki Kato, Barbato (0-1) allowed a run on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman over three innings.

Lions 7, Marines 4

At Tokorozawa’s Met Life Dome, Tomoya Mori drove in four runs in Seibu’s win over Chiba Lotte.

Hawks 11, Buffaloes 4

At Osaka’s Kyocera Dome, Yuki Yanagita hit a three-run homer and Kenta Imamiya went 3-for-4 with two homers as Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks crushed Orix.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Giants 9, Tigers 3

At Tokyo Dome, Yoshihiro Maru drove in three runs on two hits, including his first homer since joining Yomiuri, as the Giants pounded Hanshin.

Swallows 5, BayStars 2

At Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium, Tokyo Yakult rallied to beat Yokohama, scoring four runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Dragons 7, Carp 4

At Nagoya Dome, reliever Daisuke Sobue picked up his first win of the season in Chunichi’s triumph over Hiroshima.