In the 12th and final frame of the game, Yakult first baseman Roberto Petagine errored Akira Eto's grounder in a one-out, bases-loaded situation, allowing Yomiuri to escape with a 5-4 "sayonara" win over the Swallows at the Tokyo Dome on Thursday.
Yakult second baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi homered in the seventh from Hisanori Takahashi to tie the game 4-4. Shiroishi was 3-for-5 for the night.
Takahashi went eight innnings, allowing four runs on seven hits. Five Yomiuri pitchers relayed from the ninth, yielding only three hits. Junichi Kawahara (1-0) picked up the win.