Takayuki Kato had a three-hitter as the Nippon Ham Fighters beat the Pacific League-leading Rakuten Eagles 2-0 on Tuesday, winning three straight games for the first time under new manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo. Kato (2-1) bettered former New York Yankee Masahiro Tanaka (2-1) in a pitching duel at Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi, striking out six and walking one with the lefty needing only 90 pitches for the win. Kato faced the minimum number of batters through the first seven innings. He walked his first batter but had a double-play and had another in the fourth after allowing his first hit of the game …

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