TOKYO (Interstat) — The Yomiuri Giants edged the Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2-1 on Wednesday evening at Tokyo Dome, using a two-out rally in the seventh inning to break a tie and snap a three-game losing streak against their rival.

Yomiuri improved to 38-31-2 on the season, while Yakult fell to 38-32-1. The Giants have now won two of their last three games after dropping four of five. The Swallows have lost five of their last six.

The game featured a pitchers’ duel between Yakult starter Yasunobu Okugawa and a committee of Yomiuri arms. Okugawa took the loss despite a solid outing, allowing two runs on eight hits over seven innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. He dropped to 3-6. Giants right-hander Hiromasa Funabasama earned the win with a perfect eighth inning, striking out one, and improved to 2-1. Raidel Martinez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 23rd save, striking out two.

Yakult struck first in the top of the third inning. With one out, Shu Masuda singled to shallow left and Hideki Nagaoka followed with a single to shallow right, putting runners at first and second. Domingo Santana then doubled to left-center, driving in Masuda and giving the Swallows a 1-0 lead. But Yakult could not add on. Yukihiro Iwata grounded out to first, moving the runners to second and third, and Ryusei Takeoka struck out swinging to end the inning.

The Giants answered in the bottom of the first inning. Shunsuke Urata led off with a single to shallow right, and Go Matsumoto singled to shallow center. Yuta Izuguchi then doubled to right-center, scoring Urata and tying the game 1-1. The Giants had runners at second and third with no outs, but Okugawa escaped further damage. Bobby Dalbec lined out to second, Takumi Ohshiro grounded out to shortstop and Yukinori Kishida struck out swinging to strand both runners.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs, Urata singled to shallow right and then stole second base. Matsumoto followed with a single to shallow left, scoring Urata and giving Yomiuri a 2-1 lead. Izuguchi struck out swinging to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Yakult threatened in the top of the eighth inning. With two outs, Montell Higuma doubled on the right-field line, and Iwata walked to put runners at first and second. But Takeoka flew out to the catcher to end the inning.

In the top of the ninth, Yomiuri turned to Martinez. After striking out Yasutaka Shiomi and getting Takumi Ishii to fly out to center, Jose Osuna singled to shallow right. Yoshihiro Akahane then struck out swinging to end the game.

Okugawa was the top performer for Yakult, working seven innings and striking out seven while allowing only two runs. He retired the side in order in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Yuji Akahoshi of Yomiuri was also effective, allowing one run on four hits over four innings with five strikeouts, but did not factor in the decision. Yomiuri’s bullpen combined for four scoreless innings, with Funabasama, Martinez, Ren Tawa, Yuhi Nishidate and Eito Tanaka each tossing a hitless or nearly hitless frame.

The Giants’ Go Matsumoto finished with two hits and the game-winning RBI. Yuta Izuguchi had a double and a triple, driving in the tying run.

The game drew a crowd of 15,286 at the Tokyo Dome and lasted 3 hours, 22 minutes.

The Swallows had beaten the Giants 4-3 on Tuesday in the series opener. The teams have now split their last six meetings. Yakult’s next game is Friday at home against the Yokohama BayStars, while Yomiuri travels to Chunichi for a three-game series starting Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5, Yomiuri Giants 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Yomiuri with a 55.70 percent probability to win. Yakult had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 1 went over the over/under line of 6.0.