Kentaro Sekimoto hit a pinch-hit, tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth inning as the Hanshin Tigers completed a three-game sweep of the Yomiuri Giants with an 8-7 victory and moved into first place in the Central League on Sunday.
Takahiro Arai tied the game at 7-7 with a solo homer in the seventh before Sekimoto went deep to left-center off Tetsuya Yamaguchi (1-2) at Koshien Stadium.
Yomiuri put runners on the corners with one out in the ninth against Kyuji Fujikawa, but the hard-throwing closer struck out Ryota Wakiya and Michihiro Ogasawara to end the game and pick up his eighth save.