Rookie southpaw Kazuma Sato threw five scoreless innings on Sunday and earned the win as the defending Pacific League champion Orix Buffaloes completed a three-game interleague sweep of the Yomiuri Giants with a 4-1 victory.
Sato (1-0) allowed two walks and a hit while striking out three at Tokyo Dome. He took to the mound in the bottom of the first after Orix seized a 2-0 lead against veteran Tomoyuki Sugano (5-1).
"I've been nervous for the last two days since learning I would start," said the 23-year-old Sato, who joined Orix on a developmental contract in 2019 but had spent his whole pro career in the minors.
"I've been watching games played here on TV since I was little, so I was really looking forward to this game and just tried to pitch for all I was worth."
Ryoma Nishikawa, playing in his first PL season after joining Orix over the winter as a free agent from the Central League's Hiroshima Carp, had a pair of RBI doubles. The Buffaloes have won five straight.
Among other interleague games on Sunday, Hanshin Tigers right-hander Hiroto Saiki (7-1) flirted with a no-hitter until allowing his only hit in the eighth inning of a 3-0 win over the Seibu Lions. The PL's last-place club has now lost seven straight.
