Shinnosuke Ogasawara of the Chunichi Dragons pitches against the Yakult Swallows in their Central League game at Vantelin Dome Nagoya on Sept. 13, 2021. (Kyodo)

       NAGOYA (Kyodo) -- Shinnosuke Ogasawara threw seven shutout innings to steer the Chunichi Dragons to their fourth straight win Monday, edging the Yakult Swallows 1-0 in the Central League.

       Ogasawara (7-7) scattered four hits, two walks and a hit batsman while striking out five in a 97-pitch effort at Ventelin Dome Nagoya, coming out on top of a pitching duel with veteran Masanori Ishikawa (3-3) who tossed six innings allowing a run.

       Yota Kyoda hit a leadoff triple and came home in the first inning on a single by Yohei Oshima, who had three hits for the second straight day against the Swallows.

       It was not an easy outing for Ogasawara, nevertheless, after the lefty allowed two on in the first two innings before the Swallows put runners on second and third in the fifth. But Ogasawara got out of the two-out jam with Tetsuto Yamada flying out to right.

       Dragons catcher Takuya Kinoshita's throwing error saw Naomichi Nishiura steal second and reach third with two outs in the seventh, but Ogasawara struck out Yasutaka Shiomi swinging with a changeup to again put zero on the board.

       "The best thing was managing to pitch the way I like to," Ogasawara said. "Ishikawa has a great record up till now, and I could show my determination not to lose."

       Ishikawa, a 41-year-old lefty who has 10-plus wins in 11 of 20 seasons at Yakult, allowed seven hits and a walk while fanning five in a 91-pitch outing.

       The defeat leaves the Swallows 3.5 games behind CL-leading Hanshin Tigers.

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