The Hanshin Tigers' Takumi Akiyama pitches during a Central League game against the Hiroshima Carp on Sept. 11, 2021, at Mazda Stadium.(Kyodo)

       HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) -- Takumi Akiyama allowed one hit over seven innings, and Jefry Marte hit a three-run home run as the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers beat the Hiroshima Carp 4-1 on Saturday.

       Akiyama (10-5), who reached 10 wins for the second straight season, held the Carp hitless at Mazda Stadium until Ryoma Nishikawa's two-out solo homer in the seventh.

       The right-hander hit a batter and struck out three in an efficient 80-pitch effort in which he faced just 22 batters.

       "I'm relieved first of all," said Akiyama, who had set 10-plus wins as one of his goals for the season. "I wasn't aiming for (a no-hitter), and wasn't thinking about it at all."

       The Tigers stranded two runners in the second and again in the third against Hiroshima's Koya Takahashi (3-5). The third time, however, proved to be the charm. After a single and a walk, Marte blasted a fat fastball into the left-field stands.

       That was all for Takahashi, who allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks over five-plus innings.

       Mel Rojas Jr. completed the scoring with an eighth-inning RBI single, and Robert Suarez, Hanshin's third pitcher, worked the ninth to record his 31st save.

       At Tokyo Dome, Masaru Watanabe gave the Chunichi Dragons a 5-0 lead with a three-run second-inning home run in their 5-4 win against the third-place Yomiuri Giants, who lost their sixth straight for the first time in two years.

       At Sapporo Dome, the Nippon Ham Fighters scored 11 first-inning runs, 10 off SoftBank Hawks starter Shuta Ishikawa (5-9), in a 17-5 thrashing of the defending Pacific League champs.

       At MetLife Dome, Tatsuya Imai (7-5) struck out 13 in a 142-pitch three-hitter as the Seibu Lions beat the second-place Orix Buffaloes 7-0.

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