sentences:  He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in October.Chosen to start the season opener for the second straight year (and fourth time overall), Iwakuma pitched against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on March 20, , but fell short of the win despite limiting the Hawks to just one run over seven innings (then-closer Domingo Guzmán gave up a walk-off home run to outfielder Hiroshi Shibahara, handing Iwakuma a no-decision in a 4–3 loss).However, he recorded his first complete game shutout with the Eagles in his next start on March 27 against the Buffaloes and recorded his 10th win of the season in another complete game shutout against the Yomiuri Giants in an interleague game on June 15, marking the first time he had reached double-digit wins since 2003, when he was still with the Buffaloes.