Baseball: Sakamoto goes deep to lead Giants past Swallows

Veteran shortstop Hayato Sakamoto hit a three-run homer to back a solid start by Kai Yokogawa as the Yomiuri Giants completed a three-game sweep of the Yakult Swallows with a 6-3 win Thursday.

Sakamoto’s sixth home run of the season, coming with two runners on base, broke a 1-all tie in the fifth inning of the Central League game at Jingu Stadium.

The 2019 CL MVP has shown signs of recovery at the plate after struggling to a .186 batting average in March-April.

Yokogawa (3-2) allowed one run and two hits in six innings. Cy Sneed (3-2) took the loss.

“I wanted to keep the team’s momentum going,...