Game 6
Nippon-Ham Fighters opened the score in the first inning when Haruki Nishikawa led off with a triple and later scored on a single by Hiromi Oka.
In the bottom of the second inning, an error led to two runs for Toyo Carp.
Ryuhei Matsuyama led off with a single and Seiya Suzuki doubled, then both scored with one out when an error was made on a grounder by Yoshiyuki Ishihara.
The 2-1 lead was shortlived, as Ham Fighters re-took the lead in the fourth.
Kensuke Kondo led off with a single and Brandon Laird reached on an error, then Kensuke Tanaka delivered a runscoring single that tied the score.
With two outs, Haruki Nishikawa hit a 2-run triple to make it 4-2 in favor of the Sapporo-squad.
However, that lead also was erased.
In the fifth, Yoshihiro Maru homered with two outs for Toyo Carp and the team came alongside in the sixth.
With runners on second and third base and two outs, the tying run was scored on a single by pinch-hitter Ko Shimozuru.
Nippon-Ham Fighters then definitively turned the game its way with a 6-run rally in the top of the eighth inning, which included a huge hit.
With one out, the team got the bases loaded when Haruki Nashikawa, Takuya Nakashima and Hiromi Oka all singled.
The 4-4 tie was then broken when next batter Sho Nakata walked to bring in the go-ahead run.
Hereafter, (pitcher) Anthony Bass delivered a runscoring single and Brandon Laird then followed with a grand slam homerun to lift the lead to 10-4.
It marked the first time since 1993 that a team hit two grand slam homeruns in the same Series.
Brandon Laird was named MVP of the Series.
Sho Nakata, Haruki Nishikawa and Anthony Bass won the Outstanding Player Award.
Brad Eldred of the losing Toyo Carp won the Fighting Spirit Award.
...The team of Nippon-Ham Fighters celebrates the championship...
(© Photo courtesy of Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters) |
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Nippon-Ham Fighters wins Japan Series
MINAMI-KU, HIROSHIMA (Japan) -
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters is the new champion of Nippon Professional Baseball.
On Saturday-evening (October 29), the Nippon-Ham Fighters won Game 6 of the best-of-seven Japan Series with a 10-4 score against Hiroshima Toyo Carp.
With that, the team from Sapporo won the Series 4-2.
For Nippon-Ham Fighters, this its third championship-title in club-history, but its first in ten years.
The team first celebrated a championship in 1962, then had to wait until 2006 for the next one.
It was the first time in this Series that the visiting team won a game.
The team from Sapporo decided the game, which took four hours, with a 6-run rally in the eighth inning.
The rally was highlighted by a grand slam homerun by Brandon Laird, who was named the Series MVP.