Daisuke Yamai pitched three-hit ball over eight scoreless innings and Takuya Asao finished off the relay as the Chunichi Dragons edged the Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1-0 to take over first place in the Central League on Tuesday.
Yamai (1-3) struck out seven while walking none. Asao worked the ninth for his first save of the season.
Kazuhiro Wada had an RBI single to give Chunichi the lead with two outs in the third inning at Toyohashi Stadium.