Southpaw Hisanori Takahashi struck out nine over six innings and the Yomiuri Giants pounded out three homers on their way to reclaiming the lead in the Central League standings with an 8-1 drubbing of the Yokohama BayStars at the Tokyo Dome on Sunday night.
Takahashi (4-0) allowed only four hits and a walk for his third win over the BayStars this season to lift the Giants one game in front of the Hanshin Tigers, who fell 6-2 to the Chunichi Dragons at home.
Shinnosuke Abe homered for a second straight evening in the fifth inning and Tomohiro Nioka followed with a two-run blast to break the game open.