OSAKA, Japan (Interstat) — The Hanshin Tigers built an early lead and their bullpen narrowly protected it for a 4-3 victory over the Yokohama BayStars on Thursday night at Osaka Dome.

Hanshin scored three runs in the first inning, highlighted by Teruaki Sato’s RBI double and Seiya Kinami’s two-run single. They added a run in the second for a 4-0 advantage before 36,174 fans. Yokohama chipped away with single runs in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings but left the potential tying run on base in the final frame.

Winning pitcher Takato Ihara allowed one run over five innings for Hanshin. Suguru Iwazaki earned his second save. Yu Takeda took the loss for Yokohama. The Tigers improved to 4-2, while the BayStars fell to 1-5.