NAGOYA, Japan (Interstat) — Haruto Takahashi authored a masterpiece on the mound, and his Hanshin Tigers provided just enough offense in a single inning to complete a series sweep of the struggling Chunichi Dragons with a 3-0 victory Sunday at Nagoya Dome.

A crowd of 36,675 watched as Takahashi, the Hanshin ace, dominated from first pitch to last, tossing a complete-game, five-hit shutout while striking out 10 and walking none. He needed just 2 hours, 44 minutes to dispatch the Dragons, outdueling namesake Hiroto Takahashi of Chunichi in a battle of pitchers sharing a surname but delivering vastly different results.

The game’s decisive moment, and its only scoring, arrived in the top of the fifth inning. With the contest a tense pitchers’ duel through four frames, the Tigers broke through against Hiroto Takahashi. Ukyo Maegawa led off with a single to shallow right. After a strikeout, Haruto Takahashi helped his own cause with a sacrifice bunt, advancing Maegawa to second. Koji Chikamoto then worked a walk, bringing Takumu Nakano to the plate with two outs.

Nakano delivered, lacing a double to left-center field that easily scored Maegawa from second. Shota Morishita followed by extending the lead, dropping a single into shallow center that brought both Chikamoto and Nakano racing home. Teruaki Sato, who finished a perfect 3 for 3, then doubled to left, but the inning ended with a strikeout, the damage limited to three runs. It was all the support Haruto Takahashi would require.

The Tigers’ starter was in command throughout, facing minimal threats. Chunichi’s best chance came in the fourth. After a flyout, Seiya Hosokawa singled and Jason Vosler walked, putting two on with one out. Takahashi calmly induced a popout and a lineout to first to escape unscathed. The Dragons only managed one other runner to reach second base, that coming in the first inning after a leadoff single and a sacrifice bunt. Takahashi responded by striking out the next two batters, setting a tone of dominance he would maintain for the entire afternoon and evening affair.

Haruto Takahashi improved to 2-0 with the win, lowering his earned run average. His complete-game gem followed a solid six-inning, one-run performance in a hard-luck loss on April 5. Hiroto Takahashi took the loss for Chunichi, falling to 0-2 after surrendering three runs on six hits over five innings of work. The Dragons’ bullpen, consisting of Akira Neo, Kohki Saitoh, Kenshin Makino and Humberto Mejia, combined for four scoreless innings of one-hit relief, but the offense could not mount a challenge.

The victory extends Hanshin’s winning streak to three games and improves their record across all competitions to 11-4, solidifying their strong early-season form. They have now won five of their last six. Conversely, the loss is the eighth in the last nine games for Chunichi, which sinks to a dismal 3-11 on the season. The Tigers swept the three-game weekend series in Nagoya, outscoring the Dragons 17-6.

Hanshin’s offensive output was limited to seven hits, with Sato’s three hits and Maegawa’s two hits leading the way. Morishita drove in two runs, while Nakano added one RBI. Chunichi managed just five singles, with no batter recording multiple hits. The Dragons struck out 13 times as a team against the precise offerings of Haruto Takahashi.

The game defied the pregame projections from Interstat, whose simulator had forecast a 6-4 Hanshin victory. While the Tigers were given a 67.5% probability to win by the system’s ELO ratings, the combined score of three runs fell well under the over/under line of 5.5, and Chunichi failed to cover the +1.5 spread.

Hanshin returns home to Osaka to begin a three-game series against the Yomiuri Giants on Tuesday. Chunichi remains at Nagoya Dome to host the Hiroshima Toyo Carp for a two-game set starting Tuesday, before traveling to face these same Tigers again in a three-game rematch beginning Friday.