NAGOYA, Japan (Interstat) — In a tense, briskly played pitchers’ duel that defied pregame projections, Miguel Sano’s two-run homer in the fifth inning provided the only offense the Chunichi Dragons would need to edge the Yomiuri Giants 2-1 on Thursday night at Nagoya Dome, snapping a five-game losing streak.

A crowd of 36,646 watched as Dragons left-hander Yudai Ohno outdueled Yomiuri’s Takahiro Norimoto in a game that lasted just 2 hours, 14 minutes. The victory was just the first of the young season for Chunichi, which improved to 1-5. Yomiuri, which had taken the first two games of this series, fell to an even 3-3.

The game’s decisive moment came in the bottom of the fifth, breaking a prolonged deadlock. Through the first four innings, Norimoto had been nearly untouchable, allowing only a pair of singles while his defense turned two double plays behind him. The Giants, meanwhile, managed just one hit off Ohno—a two-out double by Shinnosuke Yamase in the third that came to nothing.

The Dragons’ breakthrough started with a one-out single by Seiya Hosokawa in the fifth. After Kenta Bright struck out, Sano stepped in. The Chunichi first baseman, who had flown out to center in his first at-bat, connected on a Norimoto offering and drove it over the left-field wall. The two-run shot, Sano’s first of the season, instantly transformed a scoreless stalemate into a 2-0 Dragons lead. It would prove to be the game’s only hit with runners in scoring position.

Ohno, who earned his first win against no losses, was the story from there. He masterfully worked through the Giants’ lineup, mixing speeds and locations to keep Yomiuri’s powerful bats quiet. The Giants managed only four hits total, with two coming from left fielder Trey Cabbage. Ohno’s final line was dominant: one run allowed on four hits over a complete game, with no walks and five strikeouts. He threw 103 pitches, 71 for strikes.

Yomiuri’s best chance prior to the ninth came in the sixth, when Cabbage singled with two outs, but Ohno got Go Matsumoto to fly out to right to end the inning. For most of the evening, the Giants failed to advance a runner past first base.

Norimoto, who took the loss to fall to 0-1, was the hard-luck counterpart. He was nearly as effective, yielding two runs on five hits over six innings of work, walking none and striking out four. The Sano homer was his only critical mistake.

The Giants mounted a serious threat in the ninth, finally solving Ohno momentarily. Pinch-hitter Riku Masuda led off with a double to left-center, and Cabbage followed with a sharp single to left, putting runners at the corners with no outs. Matsumoto then executed a sacrifice bunt back to Ohno, scoring Masuda and moving the tying run to second base.

The drama intensified as Yuta Izuguchi grounded out to Ohno, failing to advance the runner. With two outs and the potential tying run still at second, Ohno faced Bobby Dalbec. The Yomiuri first baseman, who was 0 for 4 on the night, lifted a fly ball to medium-depth center field. Yuki Okabayashi settled under it and made the catch, sealing the Dragons’ long-awaited victory and Ohno’s complete-game effort.

The result was a stark contrast to pregame expectations. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 4-3 Yomiuri victory, and its ELO system gave the Giants a 56.3 percent probability to win. The contest also confounded bettors, as the total score of three runs went well under an over/under line set at 6.0, though Chunichi did cover a pregame spread of +1.5.

For the Dragons, the win provides a crucial respite after a difficult start that included two narrow losses to Hiroshima and two defeats to open this series against their Central League rivals. Catcher Takuya Kinoshita added two of Chunichi’s six hits.

The Giants, who had rallied for a 6-5 win just a day earlier, saw their brief two-game win streak end. They now return to Tokyo Dome to open a three-game series against the Yokohama BayStars on Friday. The Dragons, concluding their season-opening homestand, travel to face the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, also on Friday, hoping the momentum from this tightly contested victory can spark a turnaround.