YOKOHAMA (Interstat) — Yokohama BayStars rode a relentless offense and a strong start from Katsuki Azuma to a 13-2 victory over the Yomiuri Giants on Tuesday evening at Yokohama Stadium. The BayStars finished with 17 hits, while the Giants had eight. Keita Sano led the way with a 3-for-4 performance that included a home run and four RBIs. Azuma earned the win after pitching six innings, allowing eight hits and two earned runs with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Yomiuri struck first in the top of the first. Kota Hirayama hit a solo home run to right with no outs. Go Matsumoto followed with a double down the right-field line. Azuma then settled down, getting Yuta Izuguchi on a flyout to third and striking out Takumi Ohshiro and Yusei Ishizuka to end the inning. The Giants held a 1-0 lead, but it did not last.

Yokohama responded in the bottom half. Ryuki Watarai struck out swinging to start the inning, but Shugo Maki hit a solo home run to left. Sano and Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh followed with walks. Toshiro Miyazaki reached on an error at third, loading the bases. Tatsuo Ebina struck out looking for the second out, but Takuma Hayashi singled to shallow center to score two runs. Takeru Furuichi then singled to shallow left to bring home another run. Azuma struck out swinging to end the inning, but Yokohama had moved ahead 4-1.

The BayStars broke the game open in the second. Watarai reached on an error to begin the inning, and Maki singled to shallow center. Sano then hit a three-run home run to right. Tsutsugoh followed with a solo home run to right, and Ebina added a solo home run to left. The five-run burst pushed the Yokohama lead to 9-1. Miyazaki grounded out to third, Hayashi flew out to right, and Furuichi popped out to the catcher to end the inning.

Sano stayed hot in the third. After Azuma struck out looking, Watarai singled to shallow center. Maki flew out to center, but Sano doubled to right-center to score Watarai and extend the lead to 10-1. Tsutsugoh struck out looking to end the inning.

Yomiuri got one run back in the fourth. Izuguchi singled to shallow right. Ohshiro struck out swinging, but Ishizuka walked. Bobby Dalbec flew out to right for the second out. Yamato Suzuki then doubled down the left-field line to score Izuguchi. Riku Masuda struck out swinging to end the inning, leaving Yokohama ahead 10-2.

The Giants threatened in the fifth. Trey Cabbage struck out swinging, Hirayama singled to shallow left, and Matsumoto singled to shortstop. Izuguchi struck out swinging, and Ohshiro singled to shallow center to load the bases. Ishizuka grounded out to third to end the inning without a run.

Yokohama put two runners on in the fifth when Watarai singled to shallow right and Sano singled to shallow center, but a double play and a groundout ended the inning. Azuma completed six innings and kept the Giants from mounting a comeback. He allowed a second run in the fourth but finished with seven strikeouts and only one walk. The Yokohama bullpen took over from there. Naoki Wakamatsu pitched a scoreless inning with no hits and one walk. Masaki Iwata also worked a scoreless inning with no hits. Ryuta Heinai provided three innings of relief for Yomiuri, allowing four hits and no earned runs, but the Giants could not close the gap.

Yokohama added to its lead in the seventh. Watarai reached on an error to start the inning and moved to second. Maki grounded out to shortstop, and Sano grounded out to first, moving the runner to third. Tsutsugoh then singled to shallow center to score a run. Kazuki Kamizato flew out to right to end the inning. The BayStars led 11-2.

The BayStars capped the scoring in the eighth. Ebina singled to shallow left, and Hayashi singled to shallow center. Furuichi struck out swinging, and Tatsuhiro Shibata struck out swinging. With two outs and runners on first and second, Watarai tripled to right to score two runs. Maki flew out to center to end the inning, but Yokohama had built a 13-2 advantage.

Yomiuri went quietly in the ninth. Makoto Kadowaki grounded out to the pitcher, Hirayama grounded out to third, and Matsumoto flew out to right to end the game.

Sano’s four-RBI night was the centerpiece of Yokohama’s offense. Ebina went 3-for-4 with a home run and one RBI. Maki went 2-for-6 with a home run and one RBI. Watarai went 3-for-6 with two RBIs. Tsutsugoh went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Hirayama went 2-for-5 with a home run and one RBI for Yomiuri. Matsumoto also had two hits for the Giants. Sano entered the night after going 1-for-5 with one RBI in Monday’s 4-3 win over Yomiuri and 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs in Sunday’s 5-0 win over the Giants. He also had a two-hit, one-RBI game at Hiroshima on Sept. 11 and went hitless against Yakult on Sept. 10.

Azuma improved to 11-5 with the win. Shosei Togo took the loss for Yomiuri and fell to 4-3. The BayStars improved to 64-63-3. The Giants dropped to 70-59-2. The game took 3 hours, 6 minutes and drew an announced attendance of 30,721 at Yokohama Stadium.

The result continued a strong stretch for Yokohama in the series. The BayStars had beaten the Giants 4-3 in 12 innings on Monday, Sept. 14, and 5-0 on Sunday, Sept. 13. Yomiuri had won four of its previous six games before the series, but the Giants could not slow Yokohama’s offense in the finale. Yokohama is scheduled to visit Tokyo Yakult on Thursday, Sept. 17. Yomiuri is set to host Chunichi on Friday, Sept. 18.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Yokohama BayStars 6, Yomiuri Giants 5. Interstat’s ELO system had given Yokohama a 53.7 percent probability to win before the game.