Alex Ramirez swatted a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning last Saturday to lift the Yomiuri Giants to a 6-2 win over the Chunichi Dragons and a slot in this month's Japan Series against the Seibu Lions. The victory gave the Giants their first Central League berth in the Japan Series in six years after winning the regular season pennant by overtaking the Hanshin Tigers in the last week of the season. Yomiuri won the regular season title last year as well, but fell short against Chunichi in the Central League Climax Series.
Not so this time. After being spotted a win going into the finals against the Dragons by virtue of their first-place finish, the Giants won two games and lost one, with one contest ending in a tie. With the score tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth in the clinching game, Yomiuri's Takayuki Terauchi stroked a leadoff double off Chunichi left-hander Akifumi Takehashi. Ramirez then stepped to the plate and bashed a Takehashi pitch into the left field seats to give the Giants a lead they would never relinquish. Mark Kroon, who saved 41 games over the regular season, came on in the ninth and retired the Dragons without a run to preserve the win and eliminate the defending Japan Series champions.
The Giants and the Pacific League champion Lions were slated to begin the Japan Series this weekend.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment