Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out a season-high 14 and pitched his first shutout of the season as the Seibu Lions beat the Hanshin Tigers 3-0 on Friday.
Matsuzaka (7-1) went the distance to win his seventh straight decision and became the first seven-game winner in Japanese baseball, scattering three hits and a walk in interleague play at Invoice Seibu Dome.
The Lions went ahead on a Hiroyuki Nakajima RBI single in the third and increased the lead on a solo homer by Takeya Nakamura in the fourth off Hanshin starter Shinobu Fukuhara (0-1).
Hanshin had a chance to tie the game in the top of the fifth when a leadoff single from Osamu Hamanaka and an Atsushi Kataoka double put runners on second and third with none out, but Matsuzaka struck out three in a row to get out of the jam.