Shohei Tateyama had just enough steam in his return from an injury layoff and Vladimir Balentien helped make a winner out of the right-hander with a go-ahead two-run homer as the Tokyo Yakult Swallows beat the Hanshin Tigers 4-2 on Friday.
Tateyama (9-2), making his first start since he was deactivated on Aug. 20 with discomfort in the middle and fourth fingers on his right hand, pitched 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball to lead the Swallows to their fourth win in a row. Minoru Iwata (7-11) took the loss.
Takahiro Arai gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead with a two-run blast in the first inning before Yakult cut the deficit on Arai's run-scoring error in the bottom half at Jingu Stadium.