Ryutaro Umeno did most of the damage early, Randy Messenger did the heavy lifting late, and the Hanshin Tigers batterymates helped make sure their team's fans were the ones still cheering after the final out.
Umeno, the Tigers catcher, had an two-run double in the fourth and an RBI double in the eighth, while Messenger didn't allow a baserunner from the sixth inning on as the Tigers beat the Yomiuri Giants 4-2 on Friday night in front of a crowd of 44,235 at Tokyo Dome.
"It's always good to beat the Giants, especially when we're the visiting team," Tigers manager Yutaka Wada said. "We'll do our best tomorrow and Sunday."
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