Pinch-hit slugger Akira Eto belted a grand slam and rookie Hisanori Takahashi went the distance while tossing a three-hitter Sunday as the Yomiuri Giants blanked the Yakult Swallows 4-0 at the Tokyo Dome.
Takahashi (4-1) fanned eight and pitched out of several jams to pick up his club-high fourth win and the first complete-game shutout of his career.
BayStars 3, Dragons 1
At the Nagoya Dome, Takahiro Saeki broke a 1-1 deadlock with a solo homer in the seventh inning and Toshio Haru drove in an insurance run in the top of the ninth to give Central League-leading Yokohama a victory over Chunichi.
Yokohama starter Eiji Yano (1-0) went six strong innings, giving up one run on four hits for his first win and Kazuo Fukumori retired the side in the ninth for his fifth save.
Hoshino punished
The Central League on Sunday disciplined Chunichi Dragons manager Senichi Hoshino and two of his players for their part in a shoving incident at home plate involving an umpire in Saturday's 6-3 loss to the Yokohama BayStars.
Hoshino was ejected in the seventh inning at Nagoya Dome along with Kazuyoshi Tatsunami and Takayuki Onishi for shoving home plate umpire Atsushi Kittaka after arguing a called third strike.
Hoshino was slapped with a five-day suspension along with a 500,000 yen fine and will miss a total of three games, including Sunday's game against the Yokohama BayStars at Nagoya Dome.
Tatsunami, meanwhile, was given a five-day suspension and a 200,000 yen fine while Onishi was fined 200,000 yen and given a 10-day suspension.