Akihiro Yano drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded single as the Hanshin Tigers beat the Yakult Swallows 2-1 with a ninth-inning rally in the Central League on Tuesday.
Yasushi Iihara lofted a sacrifice fly to put Yakult ahead in the third and Masanori Ishikawa held the Tigers to three hits over six shutout innings before closer Shingo Takatsu (0-1) failed to preserve the lead at Koshien Stadium.
In the bottom of the ninth, Andy Sheets reached on a one-out error by right-fielder Aaron Guiel before Tomoaki Kanemoto was intentionally walked. Takatsu then walked Makoto Imaoka to load the bases and allowed back-to-back RBI singles to Lin Wei-zhu and Yano.