TOKYO (Interstat) — Shinnosuke Ogasawara struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings and Yuta Izuguchi delivered a tiebreaking two-run double as the Yomiuri Giants defeated the Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Tokyo Dome. The Central League game drew 42,413 fans and took 3 hours, 11 minutes. The Giants improved to 73-59-2. The Swallows fell to 57-74-2. Yomiuri won the opener of the season’s final stretch between the longtime rivals, while Yakult dropped a one-run decision after a road loss at Yokohama the previous day. Ogasawara was Yomiuri’s top performer, working 5 1/3 innings and allowing two earned runs on four hits while striking out seven. He left with the game still within reach, and the Giants bullpen made the narrow lead stand.

Keiji Takahashi matched Ogasawara for much of the afternoon. The Yakult right-hander allowed one earned run on four hits over 5 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out five. He kept Yomiuri off the scoreboard early, stranding a second-inning single by Takumi Ohshiro and a fourth-inning walk to Naoki Yoshikawa. Ohshiro doubled to right-center in the fifth, but Takahashi responded with strikeouts of Hayato Sakamoto and Kota Hirayama before Shunsuke Sasaki grounded out to first. Yakult’s bullpen also had strong moments. Jesus Liranzo worked 1 1/3 hitless innings with two strikeouts. Hiroki Ohnishi retired the only batter he faced. Yuki Ishihara issued one walk without allowing a hit. But the late rally against the Swallows’ relief corps proved decisive. Ogasawara’s outing followed a Sept. 13 start at Yokohama in which he allowed four earned runs over four innings and took the loss. He was sharper against Yakult, mixing his pitches and keeping the Swallows off balance until the sixth.

Yakult took the first lead in the fourth. After Shu Masuda and Hideki Nagaoka were retired, Jose Osuna hit a solo home run to center. Domingo Santana followed with a single to shallow right, but Ayuto Matsushita flew out to right to end the inning. The Swallows added another run in the sixth. Masuda singled to shallow left, Nagaoka singled to shallow left, and Osuna walked to load the bases with one out. Domingo Santana lifted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Masuda. Matsushita then flew out to left, leaving runners on first and third. Yakult had built a two-run cushion, but the Giants answered quickly. The Swallows finished with six hits to Yomiuri’s five. Osuna’s homer was one of Yakult’s six hits, while Masuda and Nagaoka each contributed singles in the sixth.

Yomiuri cut the deficit in the bottom of the sixth. Yusei Ishizuka flew out to center before Go Matsumoto singled to shallow center. Naoki Yoshikawa grounded out to second, moving Matsumoto into scoring position. Yuta Izuguchi walked, and Bobby Dalbec singled to shallow right to score Matsumoto. Takumi Ohshiro walked to load the bases, but Sakamoto grounded out to second, ending the threat with Yomiuri still trailing by one. The Giants had momentum, though, and their next turn at bat changed the game.

The decisive sequence came in the seventh. Kota Hirayama grounded out to shortstop for the first out. Shunsuke Sasaki walked, Yoshihiro Maru walked, and Go Matsumoto walked to load the bases. Naoki Yoshikawa grounded out to second for the second out, keeping the bases loaded. Izuguchi then doubled to left-center, driving in two runs and giving Yomiuri its first lead. Dalbec struck out looking to end the inning, but the damage was done. Izuguchi finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs, the biggest hit of the afternoon for the home side.

Yakult tried to respond in the eighth. Masuda singled to shallow center, but Nagaoka grounded out to third, Osuna flew out to center, and Ruito Nishimura grounded out to second. In the ninth, Tetsuto Yamada flew out to right, Yukihiro Iwata struck out swinging, and Souma Uchiyama struck out swinging. Raidel Martinez closed the game with a perfect inning, striking out two and earning his 40th save. Kota Nakagawa picked up the win in relief, improving to 3-1. Kousuke Sakaguchi took the loss and fell to 0-1. Eito Tanaka worked one inning and allowed one hit. Kenshin Hotta recorded two outs with one walk. Nakagawa allowed one hit and struck out one in his inning. Martinez was untouchable.

Yomiuri’s bullpen combined to protect the lead after Ogasawara departed. Eito Tanaka threw a scoreless inning with one hit. Kenshin Hotta retired two batters and walked one. Kota Nakagawa followed with a scoreless inning, allowing one hit and striking out one. Raidel Martinez then finished it off with two strikeouts in a hitless ninth. The save was Martinez’s 40th of the season, a milestone that underlined his importance at the back end of the Giants’ bullpen. Yakult’s relief work included Liranzo’s 1 1/3 hitless innings and Ohnishi’s scoreless outing, but the Swallows could not hold the late lead. Ogasawara did not figure in the decision despite his seven strikeouts.

The loss continued a difficult stretch for Yakult, which has lost three of its last four. The Swallows entered after a 5-3 loss at Yokohama on Saturday. Yomiuri, meanwhile, had won two straight and had scored 16 runs over its previous two games, including a 14-1 rout of Chunichi on Saturday. The Giants remain in the Central League race with a 73-59-2 record. Yakult sits at 57-74-2. The teams are scheduled to meet again on Sunday, Sept. 27, at Yomiuri. Before that, Yakult hosts Hanshin on Tuesday, while Yomiuri visits Hiroshima on Tuesday. The game was played under afternoon conditions at Tokyo Dome, where the roof kept the late-September setting consistent.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tokyo Yakult Swallows 0, Yomiuri Giants 7. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Yomiuri with a 65.3 percent probability to win. Yomiuri had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 5 went over the over/under line of 5.5. The actual result delivered a much closer contest than the simulator expected, with the Giants needing a late two-run double and a 40th save to secure the win.