TOKYO (Interstat) — Katsuki Azuma struck out nine over seven strong innings Friday night as the Yokohama BayStars defeated the Yomiuri Giants 3-1 at Tokyo Dome.

Azuma allowed one run on five hits to earn the win before a crowd of 41,855. Yokohama broke a scoreless tie with a run in the fourth. Yuudai Yamamoto and Cooper Hummel added RBI singles in the fifth for a 3-0 lead.

Yomiuri’s lone run came on Yukinori Kishida’s seventh-inning single off Azuma. Yasuaki Yamasaki pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save. Both teams finished with seven hits. The loss went to Yomiuri starter Kazuyuki Takemaru. The game took 3 hours, 14 minutes.