TOKYO (Interstat) — Spencer Howard allowed three hits and struck out six in seven scoreless innings to improve to 1-1 as the Yomiuri Giants beat the Yokohama BayStars 6-0 on Friday, July 31, 2026, at Tokyo Dome.

Kentaro Taira took the loss for Yokohama, falling to 3-6, allowing five hits and two earned runs in five innings with five strikeouts. Yuta Izuguchi and Go Matsumoto each homered and drove in a run for Yomiuri. Hayate Nakagawa allowed one earned run in two innings. Keisuke Izumi allowed one hit in a scoreless inning. Eito Tanaka struck out one in a scoreless inning. Shunsuke Sasaki also homered for Yomiuri. Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh had two hits for Yokohama. Takumi Ohshiro drove in two runs with a double.

Yomiuri scored single runs in the first, fifth and sixth innings before adding three in the eighth. Misaki Sasahara had a run-scoring groundout. Yokohama had four hits, and Yomiuri had nine. The Giants improved to 51-40-2, while Yokohama fell to 39-51-3.