The Tokyo Yakult Swallows took advantage of Hiroki Kuroda's poor command early and held on for a 5-4 victory over the Hiroshima Carp on Friday night.
Yasuhiro "Ryan" Ogawa (3-0) allowed three runs in seven innings to earn the win after giving up four hits and two walks. The right-hander struck out four.
The Swallows scored all five of their runs in the first three innings with the big blow being Tsuyoshi Ueda's three-run, second-inning double of Kuroda (3-2), who is pitching in Japan this year after seven seasons in the majors. The win snapped Yakult's four-game losing streak before a home crowd of 29,819 at Jingu Stadium.