TOKYO (Interstat) — Taichi Yamano pitched six shutout innings as the Yakult Swallows blanked the Yomiuri Giants 5-0 on Wednesday afternoon at Tokyo Dome before 42,192 fans.

Yamano allowed five hits and struck out five to improve to 5-1. Kazuyuki Takemaru took the loss, surrendering five earned runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings, falling to 4-2.

Yakult jumped ahead in the first inning. Hidetaka Namiki led off with a solo home run to left. Later in the inning, Shu Masuda singled home a run to make it 2-0.

Souma Uchiyama extended the lead with a solo homer in the sixth. In the seventh, Kyo Suzuki tripled to right-center with two outs, driving in two runs for the final margin.

The Swallows finished with eight hits, while the Giants managed six. Four Yakult relievers combined for three scoreless innings, including Tomoya Hoshi, who struck out two in the seventh.

Yakult improved to 21-13, while Yomiuri dropped to 17-16. The game lasted 2 hours, 37 minutes.