TOKYO (Interstat) — Yomiuri Giants rallied from a 2-0 deficit, scoring twice in the eighth and twice in the ninth, to beat the Yakult Swallows 5-3 on Wednesday night at Meiji Jingu Stadium.

Yomiuri trailed 2-0 after the first inning before Shunsuke Sasaki homered in the sixth. Bobby Dalbec’s two-run double put the Giants ahead in the eighth, and Takuya Kai added a homer in the ninth. Sasaki finished 3 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs.

Yakult had eight hits and grounded into two double plays. Hideki Nagaoka homered in the first for the Swallows, and Hidetaka Namiki singled in a run in the eighth.

Haruto Inoue started for Yomiuri and allowed two earned runs over six innings with three strikeouts. Eito Tanaka (2-3) earned the win in relief, and Raidel Martinez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 36th save. Nash Walters (1-4) took the loss.

Taichi Yamano held Yomiuri to one earned run over seven innings with eight strikeouts for Yakult.

The teams combined for 17 hits, and the game lasted 3 hours, 38 minutes before an announced crowd of 28,328. Yomiuri improved to 62-51-2; Yakult fell to 50-62-1.