TOKYO (Interstat) — Taichi Yamano pitched five scoreless innings and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows rallied from a one-run deficit with a two-run eighth inning to beat the Yomiuri Giants 4-3 on Tuesday evening at Tokyo Dome.

Yamano allowed three hits, struck out seven and walked none, lowering his earned-run average to 1.20 over his last two starts. The right-hander has not permitted an earned run in his past 11 innings after throwing six shutout innings against Hanshin on June 23.

Yakult improved to 38-31-1, moving one game ahead of the second-place Giants in the Central League standings. Yomiuri fell to 37-31-2.

The game remained scoreless through four innings as Yamano and Yomiuri starter Shosei Togo traded zeroes. Togo worked seven innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out seven.

Yomiuri broke through in the fifth inning against Yamano. Shosei Togo, the pitcher, led off with a double to the left-field line. Two outs later, Go Matsumoto singled to shallow right field, driving in Togo for a 1-0 lead.

Yakult answered in the sixth. Domingo Santana singled to second base and Yukihiro Iwata doubled to the right-field line, putting runners on second and third with no outs. After a popout, Yudai Koga grounded out to second base, scoring Santana to tie the game.

Yomiuri regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Takumi Ohshiro crushed a solo home run to right field, his first of the season.

The Giants extended their lead in the seventh. Raito Nakayama walked with one out and Makoto Kadowaki doubled to right-center field, scoring Nakayama to make it 2-1. Kadowaki was stranded at second as the next two batters flied out.

Yakult’s decisive rally came in the eighth inning against the Yomiuri bullpen. Hideki Nagaoka walked to lead off the inning. Yoshihiro Akahane singled to shallow left field, moving Nagaoka to second. Yukihiro Iwata grounded out to shortstop but advanced the runners. Iwata then stole second base, putting runners on second and third with one out. Yuhei Nakamura grounded out to second base in a fielder’s choice, scoring Nagaoka to tie the game. Takumi Ishii, pinch-running for Akahane, stole second base but was left stranded as the next two batters made outs. However, the damage was done: Yakult had taken a 3-2 lead.

Yakult added an insurance run in the ninth. Ayuto Matsushita reached on an error by the pitcher to lead off. After a sacrifice bunt and a fielder’s choice groundout by Shu Masuda, Matsushita scored from third to make it 4-2.

Yomiuri mounted a threat in the bottom of the ninth against Yakult closer Jose Quijada. Hayato Sakamoto singled to shallow center with no outs. Misaki Sasahara struck out swinging and Yukinori Kishida struck out swinging for the second out. Daiki Masuda, pinch-running for Sakamoto, stole second base. But Quijada struck out Makoto Kadowaki swinging to end the game, earning his 18th save of the season.

Tomoya Hoshi earned the win, pitching one inning and allowing one hit with one strikeout. Hoshi improved to 1-1. Raidel Martinez took the loss for Yomiuri, pitching one-third of an inning with no hits and no runs but allowing the inherited runner to score. Martinez fell to 1-2.

The most important sequence of the game was Yakult’s two-run eighth inning, which turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. The inning featured a leadoff walk, a single, a fielder’s choice that tied the game, and a stolen base that put the go-ahead run in scoring position. The inning also chased Yomiuri’s bullpen, which had been effective until that point.

Yamano was the top star for Yakult, continuing his recent run of strong pitching. In his previous start June 23 at Hanshin, he threw six shutout innings in a 4-3 win. Over his last two starts, Yamano has allowed zero earned runs in 11 innings with nine strikeouts.

Yakult and Yomiuri will meet again Wednesday at Tokyo Dome in the second game of this two-game series. Yakult then returns home for a three-game set against Yokohama beginning Friday. Yomiuri travels to Nagoya for a three-game series against Chunichi starting Friday.

Attendance was announced at 10,596. The game lasted 3 hours, 35 minutes.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Yakult 5, Yomiuri 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Yomiuri a 56.30 percent probability to win. Yakult was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 4 went over the over/under line of 5.5.