The Central League-leading Tokyo Yakult Swallows tied the second-place Hanshin Tigers 0-0 in a scintillating pitcher's duel on Wednesday that trimmed Yakult's magic number to clinch the pennant to three.
In the final regular-season meeting between the clubs, Tigers right-hander Joe Gunkel was razor sharp as he struck out nine while allowing four singles but no walks over 7⅔ innings at Koshien Stadium. Three of his strikeouts came against cleanup hitter Munetaka Murakami, whose 39 home runs have him tied for the league lead.
Swallows lefty Keiji Takahashi was nearly as good, striking out eight over seven innings while allowing four singles and hitting a batter. Setup man Noboru Shimizu struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth.