Rookie Iori Yamasaki pitched eight innings and singled in a run as the Yomiuri Giants beat the Hanshin Tigers 7-0 in the Central League to snap a four-game losing streak on Thursday.
The win at Tokyo Dome was Yomiuri's first since most of its roster became infected with COVID-19. The Giants canceled six games due to a lack of players, only to return to action with back-to-back losses Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Giants knocked out Aaron Wilkerson (5-5) in a five-run second inning, when the first-year Tigers import failed to record an out. Yamasaki, the sixth straight hitter to reach base, singled in Yomiuri's fourth run to chase Wilkerson.
Yamasaki (3-3) struck out five while allowing three hits and walking none. It was the first time he has completed the eighth inning. He retired the last 15 batters he faced.
"I made good use of my time in the two weeks when we didn't have any games. I was able to keep challenging batters in the strike zone," he said.
In the Pacific League, Takeya Nakamura opened the scoring with a two-run fourth-inning home run, and hit a one-out walk-off homer to lift the league-leading Seibu Lions to a 3-2 win over the Orix Buffaloes.
In Sendai, five different Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles homered in a 10-1 win over the Chiba Lotte Marines, while the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks played to a 3-3 12-inning tie in Sapporo.