The second-place Hanshin Tigers, playing in their 129th game, achieved something they hadn’t done since they won their lone Japan Series title in 1985, but it wasn’t enough to secure a sixth straight victory in their loss to the last-place DeNA BayStars.

While that was happening, the Central League-leading Yakult Swallows were no-hit at home through 8-1/3 innings by the third-place Yomiuri Giants, and Seiya Suzuki returned to the Hiroshima Carp lineup with wham and a bam in Nagoya.