Pitcher Keiichi Yabu went eight solid innings and infielder Hiroshi Hirao drove in three runs Thursday as the Hanshin Tigers downed the Yomiuri Giants 5-2 for their sixth straight victory.

Yabu (3-0) gave up one run on five hits while fanning seven to pick up the win as the Tigers completed a three-game sweep of the Giants and moved into a tie with Yomiuri for third place in the Central League standings.

Veteran Yasuaki Taiho drove in the first run of the game with a bloop single to center in the first inning that scored Hirao from second.

Hirao then cleared the bases with a double over the head of center fielder Hideki Matsui in the second inning and Tony Tarasco singled Hirao home again as the Tigers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead at Tokyo Dome.

Yomiuri starter Masumi Kuwata (1-2) gave up all five runs to take the loss.

The Tigers' sweep was their first of three-game series against the Giants in Tokyo since 1988.

Carp 3, Dragons 0

At Hiroshima Stadium, southpaw Ken Takahashi (1-0) tossed a three hitter for his first victory of the season as the front-running Carp blanked struggling Chunichi.

Infielder Takahiro Arai belted a two-run homer in the second inning and Takeshi Nonogaki added a solo blast in the seventh as Hiroshima opened up a one-game lead over the idle Yokohama BayStars in the CL standings.

Chunichi starter Melvin Bunch (3-1) fanned 12 but gave up all three runs on six hits over seven innings to suffer his first loss in Japan.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

The lone Pacific League game scheduled for Thursday between the Lotte Marines and Daiei Hawks in Chiba was rained out.