Wladimir Balentien singled in two first-inning runs and six pitchers made that lead stand up in the Tokyo Yakult Swallows' 3-1 win over the Chunichi Dragons on Sunday afternoon.
Veteran lefty Yudai Ono (7-8) surrendered an infield single to open the game at Nagoya Dome and hit Norichika Aoki with a pitch. A groundout advanced the runners and Balentien did a good job with a tricky inside fastball, lining it over second for a two-run single.
The Dragons halved the visitors' lead in the second, when Shuhei Takahashi walked and flashed his base running skills to score from second on Atsushi Fujii's one-out single off Swallows starter Albert Suarez.