Baseball: Hiroto Saiki hurls 4-hit shutout as CL-leading Tigers win
Saiki (8-5) scattered four singles without a walk in a 116-pitch gem at Koshien Stadium, striking out nine in his second shutout of the season.
Yusuke Oyama plated the opening run with two outs and runners on the corners in the first inning, singling to center off Anthony Kay (5-6).
The lefty regrouped to put up zeros but only until Teruaki Sato pulled his first-pitch four-seamer to right for a solo shot with one out in the sixth, with the Tigers' cleanup hitter going deep for the CL-leading 26th time.
Kay allowed two runs on three hits and three walks over six innings as the BayStars lost against the Tigers for the fourth straight time.
In other action, the Pacific League-leading Nippon Ham Fighters beat the Lotte Marines 5-0 behind three perfect innings from first-round draft pick and debutant Reo Shibata followed by six innings of three-hit relief from Drew VerHagen (2-2).
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