Yakult 0, at Hanshin 2

OSAKA, Japan (Interstat) — In a tightly contested pitchers’ duel that defied pregame projections, the Hanshin Tigers edged the Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2-0 on Thursday night at a sold-out Osaka Dome, securing a series split in their four-game set. A crowd of 42,602 watched as Hanshin starter Hidetoshi Ibaragi and Yakult’s Yasunobu Okugawa traded zeroes for three innings before the Tigers broke through in the fourth. The game, which lasted 2 hours and 36 minutes, was called after seven innings due to league rules regarding shortened series. The most critical sequence of the game unfolded in the bottom of the… Read more...