Pinch-hitter Domingo Martinez and outfielder Hideki Matsui came up big Sunday as the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants avoided their third straight defeat with a 4-1 win over the Yakult Swallows at Tokyo's Jingu Stadium.
A hit to left field from Martinez with the bases loaded scored a pair of runners in the fifth, before Matsui answered an eighth-inning solo homer from Roberto Petagine with a two-run blast off reliever Don Lemon in the top of the ninth for security.
Junichi Kawahara worked seven innings for his fourth win of the season and frustrated the Yakult batters with some clever off-speed pitching as Yomiuri reversed a 4-1 loss to the Swallows 24 hours earlier in a game called after eight innings due to a rainstorm.