Lefty Chris Narveson overcame a shaky to start to go eight innings and pitch the Yakult Swallows past the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants 2-1 on Wednesday.

Narveson (4-8) walked three of the first five batters he faced but found his rhythm and, with the help of a pair of solid plays from second baseman Tetsuto Yamada, held the Giants to without a hit through seven innings. He allowed a run on two hits and four walks over eight innings, while striking out four as he mixed up his curve and changeup with an occasional fastball.

“To be honest I didn’t feel very good to start off, but as the game went along I felt like I kind of found my groove and finished strong,” said Narveson.

Swallows catcher Ryoji Aikawa opened the scoring in the fourth inning with his second double of the game off Giants starter Yuki Koyama (4-1). Yuhei Takai singled home an insurance run in the fifth for the Swallows.

The Giants, who ruined a two-on, one-out scoring opportunity in the first, when captain Shinnosuke Abe grounded into a double play, didn’t get a hit until Yasuyuki Kataoka led off the eighth with a line single to left. Kataoka stole second and scored on a single by Hisayoshi Chono.

Tony Barnette came on in the ninth and recorded his sixth save.

Tigers 3, Dragons 1

At Kyocera Dome, two-time Golden Glove-winning center fielder Yohei Oshima’s error with two outs and the bases loaded allowed two runs to score as Hanshin broke a 1-1 tie and went on to beat Chunichi for the fourth straight time.

Carp 11, BayStars 9

At Yokohama Stadium, Hiroshima outslugged DeNA behind home runs from Soichiro Amaya, Yoshihiro Maru and Eishin Soyogi to win its fourth straight game.

Pacific League
Lions 4, Hawks 2

At Yafuoku Dome, Ernesto Mejia’s 24th home run, a tie-breaking, two-run shot in the sixth inning, lifted Seibu to victory past league-leading Softbank.

Fighters 6, Eagles 4

At Asahikawa Starffin Stadium, Nippon Ham overcame a two-run deficit with a four-run seventh inning to beat marquee Rakuten rookie Yuki Matsui (2-6).

Marines 8, Buffaloes 2

At QVC Marine Field, Yuta Omine (1-3) allowed a run in five innings and Lotte came from a run down in the third on a game-tying triple by Katsuya Kakunaka and a throwing error in a win over Orix.