Wladimir Balentien was more than ready to turn the page on one of his worst weeks of the season. Being able to do it in an important game against the rival Yomiuri Giants was just icing on the cake.
Balentien drove in a pair of runs, Yasuhiro "Ryan" Ogawa threw eight innings of one-run ball and the Swallows used a three-run eighth to earn a 4-1 victory over the Kyojin on Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 42,626 at Tokyo Dome.
"I needed that," Balentien said with a laugh. "I had two hits last week. At least I started this week right with two."