NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo Pref. -- Yakult reserve catcher Kosei Ono drilled a three-run homer off Hanshin reliever Takehito Kanazawa to break a 5-5 deadlock in the top of the 12th inning, giving the Swallows an 8-7 victory over the Tigers on Sunday night at Koshien Stadium.
Atsunori Inaba led off the 12th inning with a single to center and advanced to third on Roberto Petagine's double to right. Ono, who replaced injured starter Atsuya Furuta in the sixth inning, then belted his second home run of the season to the back screen.
In the bottom of the frame, Kentaro Sekimoto blasted a two-run homer to cut the Swallows' lead to only one run, but Yakult game-closer Shingo Takatsu retired Nohiriro Akahoshi to wrap up the game.