Osamu Hamanaka drove in three runs and Akihiro Yano capped a six-run fourth inning with a two-run homer Tuesday as the Hanshin Tigers beat the front-running Chunichi Dragons 9-2 in a game called in the eighth inning because of rain.
Hanshin broke a 1-1 tie in the third on Hamanaka's RBI groundout and a wild pitch by Kenichi Nakata (4-3) before collecting six consecutive hits in the fourth to take full control of the Central League contest.
Hamanaka hit an RBI single in the first and added a run-scoring single in the big inning, which also saw Kentaro Sekimoto, Tomoaki Kanemoto and Takashi Toritani drive in a run apiece.
Kei Igawa (11-8) struck out 12 and gave up two runs on seven hits over eight innings before rain ended the game at Koshien Stadium, sending Chunichi to its fifth loss in six games.