Alex Ramirez homered twice and Hirotsugu Maeda pitched his first career shutout Sunday as the Yakult Swallows routed the Chunichi Dragons 6-0 to retain the Central League lead in winning percentage.
Ramirez connected off Chunichi left-hander Yukinaga Maeda to put Yakult ahead in the second inning and hit another solo shot off Takashi Ogasawara in the eighth to cap the scoring at Jingu Stadium.
Atsuya Furuta and Atsunori Inaba added timely singles in the third and fourth innings.