The Yomiuri Giants continued to put pressure on the Central League leaders on Saturday with a strong performance from Yoshihiro Maru, who homered twice in a 6-1 win over the Chunichi Dragons.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Maru hit his 11th home run after Japan Olympian Hayato Sakamoto's single put two on with none out at Tokyo Dome.
"We'd given up the lead, so my thought was on tying the game," Maru said. "I was very relaxed and got the best possible result."