Mitsuru Sato pitched eight shutout innings to power the first-place Chunichi Dragons to a 2-0 blanking of the Yomiuri Giants in the Central League on Friday.
Hanshin's Tomoaki Kanemoto scores a game-winning run on Akihiro Yano's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th to defeat the Yakult Swallows 2-1 at Koshien on Friday.
KYODO PHOTOSato (8-0) yielded just five hits and struck out eight with two walks to remain undefeated this season, handing the baton to Hitoki Iwase, who worked the ninth at Nagoya Dome for his 25th save to keep Chunichi undefeated in six straight games, including one tie.
Kosuke Fukudome keyed a two-run first with a run-scoring triple. Tetsuya Utsumi (7-9) took the loss for Yomiuri, which lost its seventh consecutive game against Chunichi.