Jose Lopez broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run homer Tuesday to lead the Yokohama BayStars to a 5-3 victory over the Hiroshima Carp, while the Tokyo Yakult Swallows' win delayed the Central League leaders from clinching their third straight pennant.

The Carp, who entered the day with a magic number of one, needed to win or needed the second-place Swallows to lose in order toclinch the CL title. The Swallows overcame a two-run deficit to beat the Chunichi Dragons in extra innings.

Yoshitomo Tsutsugo blasted a second-inning solo shot against Hiroshima starter Yuta Nakamura to give the BayStars an early lead at Mazda Stadium.