YOKOHAMA (Interstat) — Haruto Inoue pitched seven innings of two-hit shutout ball and the Yomiuri Giants held off the Yokohama BayStars 2-1 on Sunday evening at Yokohama Stadium in front of 31,222 fans.

Inoue, who improved to 6-5 on the season, allowed only two hits, walked none and struck out six. He did not allow a runner to reach scoring position until the sixth inning and retired 11 consecutive batters at one point. His performance gave Yomiuri its second straight win and pushed the Giants to 37-30-2, while Yokohama fell to 27-41-2.

The game was decided by a single run in the eighth inning after the Giants had built a 2-0 lead on solo runs in the second and fourth innings. Raidel Martinez earned his 22nd save of the season with a one-inning appearance, allowing one hit and striking out none.

Yomiuri struck first in the top of the second inning. Bobby Dalbec led off with a double to left-center field. After Takumi Ohshiro grounded out to second, moving Dalbec to third, Yukinori Kishida was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners. Trey Cabbage then singled to shallow right field, scoring Dalbec for a 1-0 lead. Cabbage advanced to second on the throw, but Shogo Asano struck out and Inoue struck out to end the inning with the bases loaded.

The Giants added another run in the fourth inning. Cabbage led off with a double to left-center field, his second hit of the game. Asano followed with a single to shallow left field, putting runners on first and third. Inoue then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Cabbage to make it 2-0. Asano was caught stealing second on the next pitch for the second out, and Shunsuke Urata reached on a dead play before the inning ended.

Inoue was in command throughout the middle innings. He set down the BayStars in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings, striking out two during that stretch. Yokohama’s first hit came in the bottom of the second when Ryuki Watarai singled with one out, but he was stranded after Shion Matsuo flied out and Asahi Miyashita struck out.

The BayStars finally broke through in the eighth inning. With one out, Matsuo doubled to left-center field off Inoue. After Miyashita struck out, Masaki Mimori doubled to right field, scoring Matsuo to cut the deficit to 2-1. That marked the end of Inoue’s night. Eito Tanaka relieved and induced a lineout from Toshiro Miyazaki to end the inning.

Martinez entered in the ninth inning and worked around a one-out single by Atsushi Katsumata. Shugo Maki grounded into a double play, erasing the runner, and Keita Sano grounded out to first to seal the win.

Yokohama starter Yutaro Ishida took the loss, falling to 3-8. He pitched six innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits, walking none and striking out four. He was aided by a double play in the sixth inning after Mimori singled, but the Giants could not add on.

Cabbage was the offensive star for Yomiuri, going 3-for-3 with a double, a single and an RBI. He also was hit by a pitch and scored a run. Yuta Izuguchi added two hits for the Giants, and Bobby Dalbec had two hits as well. The Giants outhit Yokohama 10-5.

For Yokohama, Mimori was the only batter with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with an RBI double and a single. Matsuo had the other hit, a double. The BayStars struck out 10 times as a team, with Inoue and Martinez combining for six strikeouts.

The game was played in 3 hours, 8 minutes.

Yomiuri’s bullpen also contributed. Eito Tanaka pitched one-third of an inning, retiring the only batter he faced. Hansel Marcelino, Hiromu Ise, Daita Miyagi and Masaki Iwata each threw for Yokohama in relief, combining for three innings of one-hit ball with three strikeouts, but the BayStars could not overcome the early deficit.

The Giants had several opportunities to extend the lead but were thwarted by Ishida and the Yokohama bullpen. In the third inning, Yomiuri put runners on first and second with two outs after singles by Izuguchi and Dalbec, but Ohshiro grounded out to second. In the seventh, Urata led off with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Go Matsumoto, but Izuguchi grounded out and Dalbec grounded out to shortstop, leaving the runner stranded.

Yokohama’s best chance besides the eighth-inning rally came in the ninth when Katsumata singled, but the double play quickly erased him.

The series continues with the final two games of the three-game set on Monday and Tuesday. Yomiuri will host the Tokyo Yakult Swallows on Tuesday after the completion of this series, while Yokohama will welcome the Hiroshima Toyo Carp on Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Yomiuri Giants 4, Yokohama BayStars 2. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Yomiuri with a 50.90 percent probability to win. Yomiuri had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 2 went over the over/under line of 6.5.