Tomoyuki Sugano pitched his first career shutout in a four-hitter as the Yomiuri Giants trounced the Hanshin Tigers 8-0 on Tuesday.

Sugano (5-4) picked up his fifth win of the season, tied for the Central League lead, with a 112-pitch gem at Koshien Stadium in which the Tigers could not reach third base.

The third-year right-hander struck out only three and issued one walk, lowering his ERA to 1.55. It was Sugano’s first complete game effort against the Tigers.

Second-place Yomiuri moved within two games of the Yokohama BayStars with its third victory in the last four games.

Leslie Anderson went 2-for-4 to lead the Giants with three RBIs. Catcher Shinnosuke Abe hit his first home run of the year in the second inning, a two-run blast off Minoru Iwata (3-2), and Hisayoshi Chono ripped a solo shot in the fourth.

Hanshin lost its third in a row and was shut out for the fifth time this season.

Swallows 2, BayStars 1

At Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium, Tokyo Yakult’s Tetsuto Yamada led off the bottom of the first with a home run to back Masato Furuno (1-0), who threw one-run ball over six innings as Yokohama lost back-to-back games for the first time since April 21.

Dragons 3, Carp 2

At Shizuoka Prefecture’s Hamamatsu Stadium, Raul Valdez (1-4) won his first game in Japan in his 10th start as the Chunichi lefty held Hiroshima to two runs on seven hits and three walks.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Lions 3, Marines 2

At Seibu Prince Dome, Hideto Asamura’s RBI double in the seventh put Seibu up for good against Chiba Lotte as the Lions halted a three-game skid to move back into first place.

Buffaloes 8, Hawks 5

At Kitakyushu Civic Stadium, Ryoichi Adachi and Masahiro Nishino had four hits apiece for Orix, which tagged Fukuoka Softbank’s Kenji Otonari (4-3) with five earned runs on 11 hits, including solo homers by Adachi and Nishino.

Eagles 7, Fighters 4

At Sendai’s Kobo Stadium, Shohei Otani and Sho Nakata each homered for Hokkaido Nippon Ham, which allowed Tohoku Rakuten to come from behind with a five-run eighth.