The Hanshin Tigers' Koyo Aoyagi pitches during a Central League game against the Chunichi Dragons on June 22, 2021 at Vantelin Dome Nagoya. (Kyodo)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Koyo Aoyagi outpitched his fellow Tokyo Olympic teammate Yudai Ono as the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers beat the Chunichi Dragons 2-1 on Tuesday.

       Aoyagi (6-2), named along with Ono among 24 Samurai Japan players by manager Atsunori Inaba last week, allowed one unearned run over seven innings on four hits and a walk as he struck out three in a 91-pitch effort at Vantelin Dome Nagoya.

       "I was really wary (of Ono), I couldn't beat him much last season so I was intent on putting in a good effort," said Aoyagi, who has improved his ERA to a CL-leading 1.96. "It's pretty awesome hearing that stat."

       Ono (3-5) struck out two in the first inning in a promising start but slugging rookie Teruaki Sato had a huge opposite-field double with one in the second, bouncing off the top of the left-field wall that spelled trouble for the left-hander.

       Following a walk, Kento Itohara singled to right to plate Sato in a hit-and-run and the 2020 Sawamura Award winner also gave up a single to following batter Ryutaro Umeno with runners on the corners for the decisive second run.

       Aoyagi allowed his first hit to the Dragons in the fourth when Wataru Takamatsu singled to open the frame. Takamatsu looked to steal second but got to third thanks to a throwing error by catcher Umeno before he came home on a Shuhei Takahashi groundout.

       Takahashi then had the opportunity to further change the course of the game in the sixth when he made the trip to the plate after Ono and Takamatsu both singled. But with runners on the corners with one out, the third baseman grounded into a double play.

       Ono threw eight innings allowing two runs on five hits and two walks, fanning five in a 103-pitch solid effort, but the Dragons failed to back him up with Hanshin's flame-throwing closer Robert Suarez working an easy ninth for his 22nd save.

       At Ishikawa Prefectural Stadium, Yoshihiro Maru and Takumi Kitamura both had three-run homers as the Yomiuri Giants beat the DeNA BayStars 6-1.

       At Mazda Stadium, the Yakult Swallows scored all the runs off Daichi Osera (2-3) in a 6-1 win over the Hiroshima Carp, the home team unable to make use of 11 hits that bettered the visiting team's seven.

       At MetLife Dome, Wataru Matsumoto (6-3) hurled eight shutout innings and Kaima Taira set a Pacific-League record of 35 games without giving up a run as the Seibu Lions sent the Rakuten Eagles to their seventh straight defeat with a 2-0 win.

       At Zozo Marine Stadium, Colin Rea (1-0) won his first game in Nippon Professional Baseball after allowing a run over six innings to help the SoftBank Hawks snap their four-game losing skid in a 6-4 win over the Lotte Marines.

       At Kyocera Dome Osaka, Yutaro Sugimoto drove in three runs as the PL-leading Orix Buffaloes beat the Nippon Ham Fighters 5-2 for their first 10 straight wins in 24 years.

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