Hanshin Tigers pitcher Haruto Takahashi throws in his first career shutout in a 3-0 Central League win over the Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Dome on Sept. 25, 2021. (Kyodo)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Hanshin Tigers kept the pressure on in the Central League pennant race Saturday behind Haruto Takahashi's first career shutout in a 3-0 win over the third-place Yomiuri Giants.

       The Tigers started the day in second place, a half-game behind the Yakult Swallows, and moved three full games ahead of the two-time defending champion Giants. The Tigers are chasing their first CL pennant since 2005.

       Takahashi (2-1) struck out 13 while walking one and allowing five hits, three in the ninth inning, when the lefty retired two veteran hitters to end the game.

       "When we closed it out I was so happy. After getting all the way to the ninth inning, I didn't want to give up even one run. I wanted a shutout so badly," Takahashi said.

       Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano (5-7) kept the Tigers scoreless until Kento Itohara's seventh-inning solo home run broke the ice. Takahashi singled in the eighth and scored when the Tigers knocked Sugano from the game on Takumu Nakano's two-run one-out RBI single.

       "With neither team able to score through the middle of the game, I was really working hard not to allow the first run. Being able to do that was a confidence boost," Takahashi said.

       At Yokohama Stadium, Tsubasa Aizawa's sixth-inning solo home run put the Hiroshima Carp in front for good in their 3-2 win over the DeNA BayStars.

       At MetLife Dome, Brandon Laird belted a two-run home run, his 25th, to lead the Pacific League-leading Lotte Marines past the Seibu Lions 3-1.

       At Kyocera Dome Osaka, Yoshinobu Yamamoto (15-5) allowed two runs while striking out nine over eight innings as the second-place Orix Buffaloes beat the third-place Rakuten Eagles 3-2 to stay 2-1/2 games back of the Marines.

       At PayPay Dome, Masaki Mimori's two-run second-inning single put the fourth-place SoftBank Hawks in front for good and they held on to beat the Nippon Ham Fighters 4-2.

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