Masashi Ito threw a five-hitter as the Hanshin Tigers beat up on the Central League-leading Yakult Swallows 9-1 on Wednesday. The Tigers' home win at Hyogo Prefecture's historic Koshien Stadium was the only one by a top-three team in either league and it left Hanshin trailing the Swallows by 11-1/2 games and the second-place DeNA BayStars by 4-1/2. Ito (9-5) struck out six batters and walked none while allowing one run over the distance. The lefty held Swallows cleanup hitter Munetaka Murakami hitless in three at-bats in his pursuit of Japan's single-season home run record and a batting triple...
