Masumi Kuwata gave up four runs and seven hits through the second inning for his second loss in as many games as the Yomiuri Giants were defeated by the Daiei Hawks 5-2 Tuesday in their first home game this preseason.
Ryo Yoshimoto scored the opening run in the first, all the way from first base on a Kenji Jojima RBI double at Tokyo Dome, before Jojima plated the second on a Pedro Valdes double.
Kazuhiro Takeoka, who played for Triple-A Richmond last season, closed out the ninth for the save.
At Jingu Stadium, Akinori Iwamura drove in three runs and had two of Yakult's five hits while Ryo Kawashima allowed two runs in six innings of work as the Swallows topped the Nippon Ham Fighters 4-2.
At Chiba Marine Stadium, Orix starter Kazuya Motoyanagi pitched five effective innings and Jason Phillips and two relievers held Lotte to one hit the rest of the way as the BlueWave edged the Marines 2-1.
At Seibu Dome, Osamu Hoshino, who had a team-high two RBIs for Kintetsu, capped a three-run first inning with an RBI groundout off Seibu's Taiwanese right-hander Chang Chi-chia in the Buffaloes' 4-2 win over the Lions.
Elsewhere in Japan baseball, Hiroshima Carp infielder Takahiro Arai on Tuesday temporarily left the team that is on a road trip to return to Hiroshima for medical tests after complaining of pain in the back of his left hand.
After first sustaining the injury in a preseason game against the Yokohama BayStars on March 6, the 27-year-old Arai, a right-handed hitter, was diagnosed with damaged ligaments.