The Yakult Swallows took advantage of a throwing error by Chunichi catcher Takeshi Nakamura in the seventh inning Sunday to edge the Dragons 2-1 at Jingu Stadium. Yakult won its fifth consecutive game.

Central League
WonLostTied Pct.GB
Yakult 53 33 3 .616 -
Yomiuri 51 45 2 .531 7.0
Yokohama 45 43 2 .511 9.0
Hiroshima 38 45 5 .458 13.5
Chunichi 41 49 2 .456 14.0
Hanshin 40 53 0 .430 16.5
Pacific League
WonLostTied Pct.GB
Kintetsu 53 42 2 .558 -
Orix 48 42 4 .533 2.5
Daiei 51 45 1 .531 2.5
Seibu 50 46 0 .521 3.5
Lotte 46 47 2 .495 6.0
Nippon Ham 34 60 3 .362 18.5

After Yakult loaded the bases in the seventh with one out, Akinori Iwamura grounded to second for an apparent inning-ending double play.

Nakamura caught the ball at home for one force-out, but then threw the ball away trying for the force at first, allowing Roberto Petagine and Atsuya Furuta to scurry home.

Second-year southpaw Shugo Fujii (11-3) picked up the win with 71/3 innings of work while Shigeki Noguchi (9-4) was saddled with the hard-luck loss.

BayStars 6, Giants 1

In Yokohama, veteran left-hander Hiroki Nomura (3-3) fashioned a four-hitter on 117 pitches, giving up only one run on a solo homer to Toshihisa Nishi in the eighth inning, as Yokohama sailed past Yomiuri.

BayStars backstop Motonobu Tanishige hit his fifth homer in six games for Yokohama, which moved two games over .500 for the first time this season.

Carp 7, Tigers 0

In Hiroshima, Eric Ludwick allowed only two hits and struck out seven for his first win of the season and Luis Lopez hit a three-run homer as Hiroshima sank Hanshin.

Ludwick (1-5) did not give up a walk in posting his first complete game since coming to Japan last year. Hanshin reliever Shin Nakagomi (3-1) was rocked for five runs on two hits and two walks in the fifth to take the loss.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

BlueWave 8, Buffaloes 6

At Green Stadium Kobe, George Arias went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer and Ikuro Katsuragi homered and drove in three runs to power Orix over Kintetsu.

Toshihiro Kase (2-0) picked up the win in relief.

Marines 9, Lions 1

At Chiba Marine Stadium, Derrick May homered and Makoto Kosaka drove in two runs with a triple to key Lotte’s five-run second inning as Lotte won its third in a row by beating Seibu.

Fighters 7, Hawks 4

Kazunari Sanematsu hit a pair of two-run homers and Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi (9-7) gave up two runs on six hits over 51/3 innings for the win as Nippon Ham defeated Daiei at the Tokyo Dome.

Ishii taken off roster

Yakult southpaw Kazuhisa Ishii was taken off the active roster Saturday after the Swallows’ ace complained of pain in his left shoulder after Friday’s win over the Chunichi Dragons.