Shingo Takatsu closed out the ninth for his 16th save this season and a record 270 career save points in Japanese baseball as the Yakult Swallows took a 3-2 win over the Yokohama BayStars in a Central League game in Tokyo on Friday.
The previous record of 269 save points -- the number of saves plus relief victories -- was held by Kazuhiro Sasaki, formerly with Yokohama and now playing for the Seattle Mariners.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the fifth at Jingu Stadium on a sacrifice fly, the Swallows added two more runs in the following inning, including an RBI double by Alex Ramirez, with Jason Beverlin and Takaaki Igarashi holding Yokohama rallies to two runs.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Buffaloes 9, Fighters 3
At Osaka Dome, Naoyuki Omura led off the first inning with a solo homer and Norihiro Nakamura blasted a two-run roundtripper with one out in the same inning as Kintetsu overpowered Nippon Ham.
Nakamura, making the starting lineup for the first time in about two weeks, connected on Carlos Mirabal's low 0-1 pitch for a blast into the bleachers in right-center field.
While the visitors cut their deficit to 5-3 in the fifth, Kintetsu widened its lead to 8-3 in the bottom of that frame on Kenshi Kawaguchi's three-run home run.
Newly acquired Kintetsu right-hander Nerio Rodriguez gave up three runs on eight hits in five innings while striking out five to post his first win.
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