Ryo Kawashima held the BayStars to just one hit through seven scoreless innings Tuesday at Jingu Stadium and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama drove in a pair of runs as the Yakult Swallows shut out Yokohama 5-0.
Kawashima improved to 4-2 on the year, allowing just a sixth-inning single by Tatsuhiko Kinjo while striking out seven and walking one. He was lifted after throwing 99 pitches.
Mike Wood (1-7) took the loss for Yokohama. The big right-hander from Florida gave up three runs on six hits through five innings.
Swallows center fielder Norichika Aoki also drove in a run with a fifth-inning RBI double, scoring Kawashima, who had singled to lead off the inning. Aoki went 3-for-4 with a walk to boost his batting average to .356, still trailing Central League leader Seiichi Uchikawa of the BayStars, who was 0-for-3 on Tuesday to sit at .367.
Kazuki Fukuchi hit a solo homer to straightaway center off reliever Naoki Mitsuhashi in the seventh for Yakult and the Swallows added a run in the eighth on a fielder"s choice ground ball to cap the scoring.