FUKUOKA – Livan Moinelo threw seven dominant frames and Hikaru Kawase singled in the go-head run in the fifth inning as the SoftBank Hawks advanced to the Japan Series with a 2-1 win over the Nippon Ham Fighters at Fukuoka’s Mizuho PayPay Dome on Monday.
Manager Hiroki Kokubo’s Hawks held on to clinch the best-of-seven Pacific League Climax Series final stage 4-3 against a youthful Fighters lineup that had clawed its way to the brink of a stunning turnaround with three straight wins after going down 0-3.
The Fukuoka club earned the right to host the series, a rematch of last year’s PL final stage, and start with an automatic one-game lead as reward for winning the league pennant in a tight race with skipper Tsuyoshi Shinjo’s second-place Nippon Ham.
SoftBank had been poised to sweep before the Hokkaido-based Fighters revitalized their bid for a first Japan Series berth since 2016 by scoring 22 runs over the next three games, including three homers and five RBIs from Dominican slugger Franmil Reyes.
Cuban left-hander Moinelo (1-0) was named most valuable player of the series after laying the foundation for the decisive Game 6 victory with six strikeouts over seven innings of one-run, three-hit ball as he outdueled Nippon Ham’s Kota Tatsu (0-1).
The home team broke the ice in the bottom of the third inning, with Takashi Umino scoring on a throwing error by Nippon Ham first baseman Kotaro Kiyomiya after reaching on a grounder and advancing to second on Taisei Makihara’s single.
Nippon Ham tied it on Yuya Gunji’s RBI double in the top of the fourth before 28-year-old infielder Kawase restored SoftBank’s lead in the fifth with a line drive to right field with two out and the bases loaded.
“Things were really tough after we lost three in a row,” Kokubo said. “Moinelo pitched well for us. Reyes was a monster. Holding him down was the reason we won.”
SoftBank will host the opening game of the best-of-seven Japan Series against runaway Central League champions the Hanshin Tigers on Saturday.
The Hawks, appearing in their second straight Japan Series and 22nd overall, will look to bounce back from last year’s upset loss to the DeNA BayStars.
“We’ll be fighting to erase the disappointment of last year,” Kokubo said.
AloJapan.com