Left-hander Masanori Ishikawa pitched seven innings of one-run ball, Yuhei Takai homered and drove in five runs, and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows thumped the Chiba Lotte Marines 14-3 as the two clubs wrapped up their final interleague game on Wednesday.
Each of the Swallows' starting nine had at least one hit in the 15-hit onslaught at Jingu Stadium. Yakult's 14 runs were the most for the team in a game this season.
Hiroyasu Tanaka had a two-run triple to key a five-run fourth among his two hits, and Akinori Iwamura drove in two runs in a 2-for-3 outing, featuring a run-scoring double in the three-run fifth.
Ishikawa (5-5), the 2002 Central League Rookie of the Year, allowed five hits, walked none and had no strikeouts. Marines starter Yuta Omine (0-1) yielded seven runs — four unearned — in four innings of the loss.
Fighters 4, BayStars 2
At Yokohama Stadium, Hokkaido Nippon Ham's Shohei Otani (7-1) gave up two runs over seven innings against Yokohama en route to winning his fifth consecutive decision. The right-hander struck out seven, featuring three straight in the seventh. Michael Crotta got his first save in Japan.