Shota Imanaga struck out 15 over seven innings to pitch the Central League's second-place DeNA BayStars past the Yomiuri Giants 2-1 Friday.
The lefty surrendered a second-inning home run at Tokyo Dome, Kazuma Okamoto's Japan-leading 20th, and had to pitch out of a two-on no-out jam after his team gave him a seventh-inning lead.
Imanaga (6-1) allowed six hits but no walks in a 113-pitch outing, while relievers Hiromu Ise and Yasuaki Yamasaki each supplied a scoreless inning to secure the victory.
The BayStars tied it off Giants right-hander Shosei Togo (8-2) in the third on a hit batsman, a Taiki Sekine double and a Keita Sano sacrifice fly, and took the lead on catcher Yasutaka Tobashira's seventh-inning home run. Togo struck out 10 over seven innings.
"I see myself as a pitcher who should be on the mound in the eighth and ninth innings, so I'm not satisfied with that, but the main thing is that we won," Imanaga said.
The win moved DeNA to within one game of the first-place Hanshin Tigers, whose game against the Yakult Swallows was rained out.
In Friday's other games, Shinnosuke Ogasawara (5-5) threw a three-hitter for the CL's Chunichi Dragons in an 8-0 win over the Hiroshima Carp, while the Pacific League-leading SoftBank Hawks failed to overcome an early six-run deficit in a 6-5 loss to the Rakuten Eagles.
