The Central League-leading Hiroshima Carp defeated the interleague-leading Rakuten Eagles 4-3 on Saturday without the help of an extra-base hit.
Shogo Tamamura (1-2) allowed three runs over six-plus innings to earn the win at the Eagles' Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi after the Carp bullpen came to the rescue in the seventh inning.
The visitors got on the board with two runs in the second and added two more in the sixth. After Rakuten scored twice in the seventh, Carp lefty Taylor Hearn entered with a runner on third and no outs, surrendered a sacrifice fly and issued a walk but stranded the potential tying run on base.
Two more relievers each worked a scoreless inning, with closer Ryoji Kuribayashi securing his 19th save.
Among other interleague games on Saturday, DeNA's Katsuki Azuma (5-0) threw a seven-hit shutout as the BayStars beat the Seibu Lions 4-0 to win their sixth straight game.
