There were four games in Japan Thursday, and for the second straight night, the Hanshin Tigers left it till late, while Chusei Mannami continues to have a blast with the Nippon Ham Fighters.

Thursday’s games

Tigers 7, Swallows 4, 10 innings: At Jingu Stadium, Yusuke Oyama, Johan Mieses and Koji Chikamoto each homered for Hanshin. Mieses’ second homer tied it in the seventh and Chikamoto’s third put Hanshin up 3-2 in the eighth. The Swallows, took a 2-0 second-inning lead on two singles, two hit batsmen from lefty Masashi Ito, and an RBI groundout by Swallows starting pitcher Cy Sneed.

Trailing 3-2 in the eighth, Tetsuto Yamada and Munetaka Murakami singled to put runners on the corners, and reliever Ren Kajiya balked in the tying run.

The Tigers retook the lead in the 10th with the help of an intentional walk that put two on after Chikamoto singled and stole second. A Sheldon Neuse single loaded them up, and Oyama drew a bases-loaded walk. With two outs, Teruaki Sato hit a fly to the warning track to clear the bases.

With the horses gone, Murakami locked the barn door with a consolation home run, his eighth in the bottom of the 10th. The Swallows fell to 0-7-1 in their last eight games, while Hanshin has won its last five.

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