Seibu 0, at SoftBank 2

FUKUOKA, Japan (Interstat) — In a tense pitchers’ duel that stretched into the late innings, Kensuke Kondoh’s two-out, two-run homer in the seventh inning broke a scoreless deadlock and propelled the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to a 2-0 victory over the Saitama Seibu Lions on Thursday night. A crowd of 38,049 at the Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome watched as both starting pitchers traded zeros for six frames before Kondoh’s decisive blast off reliever Emmanuel Ramirez decided the contest. The win gave SoftBank the series split after dropping the first two games of the three-game set and improved the Hawks’ record to 8-4… Read more...