Miles Mikolas tossed seven shutout innings and Shingo Ishikawa was 2-for-3 with three RBIs as the Yomiuri Giants defeated the Hanshin Tigers 6-1 on Tuesday.
Mikolas (10-5) held the Tigers to four hits and struck out four during his 119-pitch outing at Tokyo Dome, posting double-digit wins for the first time in two seasons.
"I felt good," the 28-year-old American said. "My goal was to stay aggressive and let the defense work behind me. We had great defense today."
Yomiuri opened the scoring with Shinnosuke Abe's RBI hit in the first before Ishikawa struck a solo shot an inning later. The home team added four more runs in the third on a bases-loaded walk, Ishikawa's two-run single and an RBI hit by Mikolas.
"I practice hitting everyday, and anything I can do to contribute to a win -- my goal is to do anything I can out there," said the right-hander who hit a home run when he last started a week ago.
Hanshin barely avoided a shutout loss when Hayata Ito drove in a run with two outs and runners on the corners in the top of the ninth, but it was too little, too late.
Tigers starter Yuta Iwasada (4-9) lasted only four innings, surrendering six runs on seven hits and six walks as the second-place team in the Central League lost for the first time in six games.
-----
Swallows 8, BayStars 5
At Jingu Stadium, Wladimir Balentien struck a come-from-behind grand slam in the third before Tetsuto Yamada and Carlos Rivero both hit two-run homers to power Yakult past DeNA and halt its losing skid at three. The visitors fell to their third straight defeat.
-----
Dragons 1, Carp 1, 12 innings
At Nagoya Dome, Hiroshima saw its magic number toward clinching the CL pennant lit at 33 as the defending league champion drew with Chunichi after Carp cleanup hitter Seiya Suzuki hit a game-tying RBI single in the seventh.
-----
Pacific League
Marines 17, Hawks 8
At Zozo Marine Stadium, Lotte outhit SoftBank 19-11 for a season-high 17 runs in a slugfest that featured four home runs from both teams combined. The Hawks fell to second place in the PL behind the Rakuten Eagles, whose game against the Nippon Ham Fighters was rained out.
-----
Buffaloes 12, Lions 6
At Kyocera Dome Osaka, Masataka Yoshida, Hiroyuki Nakajima and Eiichi Koyano drove home three runs apiece as Orix pounced on Seibu to win its third consecutive game.
