Koji Uehara pitched his second complete game shutout of the season and Yoshinobu Takahashi broke a scoreless deadlock with a two-run double as the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants blanked the Hiroshima Carp 4-0 on Tuesday at the Sapporo Dome.
Uehara (8-3) escaped a no-out, two-on jam in the first inning and scattered seven hits with three strikeouts in the first day-game start of his career.
The right-hander got run support from Takahashi, whose two-out double scored runners from first and third in the sixth. Kazuhiro Kiyohara followed with a sacrifice fly to cap the three-run inning.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Marines 2, Buffaloes 1
Makoto Kosaka singled home the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning and Nate Minchey pitched eight strong innings as Lotte defeated Kintetsu at the Osaka Dome.
Minchey allowed just one run -- a solo homer to Tetsu Matoyama in the sixth -- and three hits while striking out four and walking one. He got out of a bases-loaded jam with a triple play in the seventh inning.