Yomiuri Giants rookie Hayato Takagi had his toughest game of the season, but he still managed to improve to 5-0 on Sunday in a 10-3 win over the defensively challenged Hanshin Tigers.

Takagi allowed three runs, two earned, in six innings — the shortest since he also went six in his March 29 pro debut. With less control than he usually displays, the right-hander gave up six hits, while walking two and striking out three.

“Today was not about my shutting them down with my pitching, but about our scoring a lot of runs,” said the 25-year-old Takagi, who had faced few challenges in his first five starts. “To be honest, I see myself as a grinder, a pitcher who can hang on when things are going bad.”

Tigers ace Atsushi Nomi (2-3) struck out eight over six innings, but allowed 10 hits and a walk. He was charged with five runs.

Pinch hitter Tatsuhiko Kinjo broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth with a two-run double that was set up by a pair of Tigers mistakes, a poor pitch by Nomi and a catchable ball that rolled through the middle of the infield.

With two outs and runners on the corners, Kinjo put a good swing on an inside pitch and smashed it past third baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka for a double and a lead the Giants would never relinquish.

“I felt safe when he (Kinjo) came up,” Takagi said. “He has an aura about him. When he put us ahead, I was glad I had battled to hold them to three runs.”

The Tigers opened the scoring with a run in the second after Kosuke Fukudome doubled off the wall in right. He came home on a one-out grounder.

Fukudome made it a 2-0 game in the third, when the Tigers loaded the bases with nobody out. Nishioka’s second single of the game was sandwiched between two walks, and Fukudome drove a pitch to center for an easy sac fly.

The Giants tied it on two swings in the third. Itaru Hashimoto’s hard grounder to first baseman Mauro Gomez rolled into right for a one-out single. Yasuyuki Kataoka followed with a good swing on a 1-0 slider that got too much of the plate and drilled it out to left.

The Giants took a one-run lead in the fourth on back-to-back singles and Seiji Kobayashi’s RBI double. Matt Murton prevented two runs with a good catch in left-center to end the inning.

Fukudome beat Takagi again in the top of the fifth, with a two-out RBI single to deep right to tie it.

But Nomi opened the door for the Giants’ winning rally in the sixth, when he fell behind Juan Francisco before throwing a high 3-1 fastball that went for a single.

With one out, second baseman Hiroki Uemoto whiffed while attempting a clever sliding catch that allowed Murata to reach on a ground single. Batting for Takagi with two on and two outs, Kinjo hit a sharp grounder past Nishioka for a 5-3 lead.

With Nomi gone, the Tigers’ fielding killed them in the seventh. Uemoto failed to get outs on the first two balls in play that went for singles. A passed ball brought in one run and Takayuki Terauchi’s suicide squeeze plated another.

Light-hitting Takahiro Suzuki, who entered as a pinch runner, capped the Giants win with a three-run homer in the eighth. It was his first home run in six years.

BayStars 4, Dragons 3

At Nagoya Dome, Takayuki Kajitani hit a two-run, first-inning homer and had an RBI triple to break a 2-2 tie in the eighth. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo followed with an RBI double as Yokohama defeated Chunichi.

Swallows 7, Carp 3

At Jingu Stadium, Takahiro Araki homered and drove in four runs as Tokyo Yakult overcame the ejection of starting pitcher Ren Kazahari to beat Hiroshima. Takeaki Tokuyama (1-0) won in relief.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Marines 7, Fighters 2

At QVC Marine Field, Yuta Omine (1-1) allowed a run over five innings to earn the win as Luis Cruz and Alfredo Despaigne homered for Chiba Lotte in a victory over first-place Hokkaido Nippon Ham.

Hawks 3, Buffaloes 2

At Kyocera Dome, Fukuoka Softbank put together a three-run ninth inning against Orix reliever Mamoru Kishida (1-1). Lee Dae-ho doubled in one run to trim the lead to one, and Yuki Yoshimura’s two-run triple put the Hawks in front.

Lions 7, Eagles 6

At Kobo Stadium Miyagi, Ernesto Mejia singled in a run in the first inning and homered in the sixth, and Seibu handed Tohoku Rakuten its fifth straight loss.

Kuroda deactivated

KYODO

The already-struggling Hiroshima Carp took a major blow Sunday after right-hander Hiroki Kuroda was deactivated with tendinitis in his right ankle.

Team chief trainer Yoshinao Matsubara did not give a timetable for when Kuroda, 40, will be able to return to action but said he will be reexamined after the Golden Week holiday.

Kuroda showed symptoms early on in the season and was diagnosed with an inflamed right fibula last Monday, two days after winning his third game of the season.

He recovered enough to make his next start on Friday, but allowed five runs in six innings in a defeat to the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

The former New York Yankee is 3-2 with a 3.46 ERA in six starts since returning to Japan this season.