KYODO NEWS - Aug 29, 2017 - 22:26 | Sports, All

Hanshin rookie Taiki Ono threw six solid innings to pick up the first win in his 13th start this year as the Tigers blanked the Yakult Swallows 3-0 on Tuesday.

Takashi Toritani opened the scoring for Hanshin in the second inning with an RBI single -- his 1,991st career hit -- and came home on Fumiya Hojo's triple, while Hiroki Uemoto drove in another run in the fifth at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture.

Ono (1-7) had trouble finding the strike zone but struck out four while allowing two hits and five walks in his 87-pitch effort as the Tigers returned to their home stadium for the first time in about a month.

Three relievers -- Kentaro Kuwahara, Marcos Mateo and Rafael Dolis -- pitched a perfect inning each, with closer Dolis clocking 161 kilometers per hour on his fastball en route to claiming a Central League-high 32nd save.

"There was a long period when I couldn't win but I was able to get my first victory in front of all of these spectators who came out to cheer us on," Ono said before a crowd of 43,735.

"I couldn't really find my rhythm while pitching, but I was helped by our defense when I was in trouble and was able to turn all of the cheers from the stands into strength," said the 23-year-old right-hander who surprised himself by getting his first career hit in the third.

Yakult's 16th-year veteran southpaw Masanori Ishikawa (4-12) surrendered three runs -- one of them earned -- on six hits in seven innings.

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Dragons 7, BayStars 6

At Nagoya Dome, Chunichi came from behind to edge DeNA, with pinch hitter Masahiro Araki driving in a run to tie the game 6-6 and rookie Yota Kyoda's RBI single putting the home team ahead in the eighth.

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Carp 2, Giants 1

At Tokyo Dome, Ryoma Nishikawa belted a two-run home run in the fifth to lift CL-leading Hiroshima over Yomiuri while Carp starter Yusuke Nomura (9-4) held the Giants to one run on seven hits and four walks over six innings.

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Pacific League

Lions 3, Eagles 1

At Kobo Park Miyagi, Hideto Asamura broke a 1-1 draw with an RBI hit in the sixth while starter Ken Togame (7-5) yielded one run in 6-2/3 innings as Seibu claimed its seventh straight win over Rakuten, which lost its sixth consecutive game.

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Marines 6, Buffaloes 2

At Zozo Marine Stadium, Kentaro Inomoto hit a two-run single -- his first RBI hit in his nine-year career -- to give Lotte a 4-2 lead in the fifth and Katsuya Kakunaka hit a two-run homer two innings later to seal the win over Orix.

==Kyodo