Domingo Santana of the Yakult Swallows hits a two-run home run in the seventh inning of Game 3 of the Japan Series against the Orix Buffaloes at Tokyo Dome on Nov. 23, 2021. (Kyodo)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Domingo Santana had the last word in a wild game, giving the Central League champion Yakult Swallows a one-game Japan Series lead with a 5-4 Game 3 win over the Pacific League champion Orix Buffaloes on Tuesday.

       The win at Tokyo Dome gave the Swallows a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series that the CL has not won since 2012.

       Trailing 4-3 in the seventh inning of a back-and-forth contest, Norichika Aoki gave the hosts a leadoff runner with a single off reliever Ryo Yoshida (0-1). With two outs, Santana got ahead of the count and drove a high slider from the right-hander into the seats.

       After impressive pitching by both teams' starting pitchers marked the first two games that the clubs split in Osaka over the weekend, the Buffaloes broke the ice in the third inning on a Yuma Mune RBI single off Swallows right-hander Yasuhiro Ogawa.

       Ogawa got a 3-1 fifth-inning lead but allowed three runs over his six innings on the mound and left with the game tied.

       Buffaloes lefty Daiki Tajima allowed a run over 4-1/3 innings, getting yanked before the Swallows scored three runs in the fifth, two charged to reliever Cesar Vargas, with one of those scoring on an error.

       The Swallows' lead evaporated in the sixth, when PL batting champ Masataka Yoshida led off with a double and PL home run leader Yutaro Sugimoto hit a misplaced fastball from Ogawa into the stands to tie it.

       Yoshida, who had lined into a couple of hard-hit outs in the first two games, got some good luck in the seventh. After Albert Suarez walked two runners on, Yoshida's defensive two-out swing plated the tie-breaking run off lefty Kazuto Taguchi.

       That lead, too, only lasted a few minutes as the see-saw game continued with Aoki leading off the seventh.

       The Swallows, who suffered a bullpen blowup in their Game 1 loss, managed to hold the late lead this time. Taichi Ishiyama (1-0) got Yakult out of a seventh-inning jam and retired all four batters he faced to earn the win. Closer Scott McGough took over in the ninth and retired Sugimoto to end the game with two runners on base.

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