Carter Stewart Jr., the first marquee American amateur to turn his back on MLB and start his pro career in Japan, earned his first win in Nippon Professional Baseball's top flight Wednesday in the SoftBank Hawks' 7-1 victory over the Orix Buffaloes.
At the Buffaloes' Kyocera Dome Osaka, the 23-year-old Stewart (1-2) allowed an unearned run on six hits and a walk over six innings while striking out six a night after SoftBank snapped a 12-game losing streak.
The 1.98-meter right-hander signed with SoftBank in 2019 after turning down the Atlanta Braves, who made Stewart the eighth overall pick in MLB's 2018 amateur draft.
"Today was an exciting day all around," Stewart said. "I'm very excited to get my first win and glad we could get off that losing streak."
"I was very aggressive today. From the first pitch, I was just attacking hitters, getting ahead on guys, and that helped me get outs and not throw too many pitches."
The Hawks came from a run down against Orix lefty Hiroya Miyagi (6-4) on three home runs. Kenta Imamiya tied it with a solo shot in the fourth, light-hitting catcher Takuya Kai's three-run homer made it 4-1 in the fifth and new Hawk Kensuke Kondo's 13th of the season made it 5-1 in the sixth.
"I'm very thankful to my teammates. They did a great job," Stewart said. "I need to take Kai out to dinner after this."
The visitors completed the rout against the two-time defending Pacific League champions on Yuki Yanagita's two-run ninth-inning single.
Elsewhere, the Nippon Ham Fighters snapped their 13-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Rakuten Eagles, while the Seibu Lions beat the Lotte Marines 5-3.
In the Central League, the Chunichi Dragons clubbed the DeNA BayStars 7-1. The league-leading Hanshin Tigers beat the Yomiuri Giants 8-5, while their closest pursuers, the Hiroshima Carp, won their ninth straight by downing the Yakult Swallows 5-3.
