Takahiro Arai homered and drove in four runs in a 5-for-5 outing, veteran lefty Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi threw one-run ball over six innings and the Hanshin Tigers beat the lowly Yokohama BayStars for the second night in a row, 10-3 on Wednesday.
The CL leaders scored in double digits for the third game in a row and won their fourth straight.
Craig Brazell hit a two-run blast — his 40th homer of the season — to key a four-run first inning and Arai added an RBI double in the second before his two-run shot in the fourth made it 8-1 at Koshien Stadium. Arai, who also had a run-scoring single in the first, came a triple shy of the cycle.
Shimoyanagi (7-7) allowed five hits, struck out three and walked two. Hitoshi Fujie (2-3) was roughed up for six runs in just two innings. Seiichi Uchikawa hit a solo drive for Yokohama, which lost its second straight and third in four games.