Yu Darvish threw eight effective innings as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters avoided a three-game sweep by the Chiba Lotte Marines with a 4-3 win on Thursday.
Darvish (11-2) allowed three runs, two earned, and six hits in eight innings en route to his baseball-leading 11th win.
The 24-year-old ace struck out five and walked two in a 108-pitch outing at QVC Marine Field.