There were a couple of big home runs from unexpected sources on Wednesday, while the Yakult Swallows continued to lose, dropping their 13th straight.

Central League

Carp 5, Swallows 3

At Jingu Stadium, Seiya Suzuki opened the scoring with his 15th home run, a first-tinning, two-run shot off rookie lefty Keiji Takahashi (0-2), tied it with a broken-bat, fifth-inning double and scored from second on a two-out infield single as the Carp came from a run down to take command after a rain delay.

The Swallows, who lost their 13th straight, took a one-run lead in the bottom of the first on rookie Munetaka Murakami‘s 14th home run, a three-run shot off Daichi Osera.

Osera (5-2), who allowed four runs in six innings against the Swallows two weeks earlier, improved to 11-0 in his career against Yakult, the only CL team he has never lost to.

A night after loading the bases in with a one-run lead, Carp closer Shota Nakazaki again made things interesting, putting the tying runs on board with walks before nailing down his eighth save.

Tigers 8, Giants 4, 12 innings

At Koshien Stadium, Shun Takayama, whose career has gone nowhere since he was the CL’s 2016 rookie of the year, hit a pinch-hit, sayonara grand slam to lift Hanshin over Yomiuri. It was his second career pinch-hit homer, the other one coming on Sept. 29, 2017.

Jefry Marte, who singled and scored Hanshin’s first run, tied the game with his fifth home run, a two-run, eighth-inning homer off former closer Hirokazu Sawamura. Marte went 3-for-5, opening the Tigers 11th with a single.

Hayato Sakamoto became the 104th NPB player with 200 career home runs, while new Giant Yoshihiro Maru hit his 155th and 156th, and lefty Nobutaka Imamura allowed two runs over six innings.

Hanshin side-armer Koyo Aoyagi remained winless at Koshien against the Giants in his career, allowing three runs over five innings on eight hits, two walks, and a hit batsman.

BayStars 2, Dragons 1, 11 innings

At Nagoya Dome, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo singled home the tie-breaking run in the top of the 11th off Chunichi closer Hiroshi Suzuki (0-2).

Dragons starter Yudai Ono struck out seven, allowed a run over eight innings, while contributing to Chunichi’s sixth-inning game-tying run with a one-out single.

Pacific League

Lions 4, Eagles 1

At Hirosaki, Ken Togame (3-0) struck out seven and allowed one run over six innings, while Hotaka Yamaka hit his 22nd home run in Seibu’s win over Rakuten. The home run puts Yamakawa on pace to hit 64 this season. The current NPB record is 60, set by Wladimir Balentien of the Yakult Swallows.

A night after he homered twice and drove in five runs, Jabari Blash came to bat with runners on just once and walked.

Hawks 5, Buffaloes 2

At Kyocera Dome, rookie Go Kamamoto went 3-for-4 and singled home two runners who had reached on errors to snap a 2-2, fourth-inning tie as SoftBank snapped a three-game losing streak.

Hawks starter Kotaro Otake (2-2) escaped several jams to allow two runs over six innings on eight hits while striking out one. Orix starter Daiki Matsuba (0-4) allowed four runs, two earned, on nine hits and a walk over six innings to take the loss.

Yurisbel Gracial drove in an insurance run for the Hawks with his ninth home run

Fighters 5, Marines 3

At Sapporo Dome, Kensuke Tanaka, playing in his final pro season, hit the second pinch-hit home run of his career, the previous one coming on Sept. 28, 2005. This one was also a two-run shot and also against Lotte. What is it about September pinch-hit home runs?

This one overturned a 4-3 deficit with two outs in the eighth inning. Lotte rookie Daiki Iwashita allowed an unearned run on four walks and three hits over six innings, but a pair of relievers let the Fighters back in the game.

Ryo Akiyoshi worked a 1-2-3 ninth to record his 10th save.

In other news:

• On Tuesday, Yakult Swallows reliever Ryota Igarashi celebrated his 40th birthday by pitching in his 800th NPB game. Igarashi, who pitched in 83 major league games, mostly with the New York Mets, is seventh all-time in career games. Japan’s career saves leader, Hitoki Iwase, pitched in 1,002 — all for the Chunichi Dragons.