Inaba powers Hammies past Swallows

Atsunori Inaba hit a pair of solo homers and Makoto Kaneko added a three-run shot on a rainy Tuesday evening at Jingu Stadium as the Nippon-Ham Fighters stomped the Yakult Swallows 10-2 in interleague play.

Yoshio Itoi was 5-for-5 with four doubles, an RBI and three runs scored for Nippon-Ham, who out-hit Yakult 17-4 on the night.

Second-year righty Ryo Sakakibara (1-0) picked up his first career win with two innings of scoreless relief. He was one of seven Fighters' pitchers used in the game after starter Hirotoshi Masui had to leave after one inning with a suspected shoulder problem.

Swallows starter Shohei Tateyama (3-5) gave up eight runs on 11 hits through five innings in taking the loss.

In the only other game on the NPB schedule Tuesday, the BayStars defeated the Softbank Hawks 5-2 at Yokohama Stadium.

All six Pacific League clubs are now guaranteed of having winning records in interleague play this season.