Shohei Tateyama pitched his fourth complete game of the season and helped his own cause with a tiebreaking double as the front-running Tokyo Yakult Swallows beat the Yomiuri Giants 4-2 for their third straight victory on Wednesday night.
Wladimir Balentien opened the scoring with a bases-loaded RBI grounder in the first inning before a Shinnosuke Abe homer tied it at 1-1 in the top of the second at Jingu Stadium.
But Shingo Kawabata led off the bottom half with a single to center and one out later, Tateyama drove in Kawabata from second with his double off the right-field wall.