Alex Ramirez arched a two-run homer into the right-field stands in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Yakult Swallows to a 2-1 "sayonara" triumph over the Yomiuri Giants on Wednesday evening at Jingu Stadium.
Ramirez's blast off Yomiuri closer Junichi Kawahara salvaged the win for southpaw Shugo Fujii (4-1), who had given up a solo homer to Hideki Matsui in the top of the ninth after eight shutout innings.
It also dropped Yomiuri, which has lost five of its last six games, into second place in the CL standings.