Liván Moinelo left with a no-decision after allowing five hits with no runs and striking out seven in seven complete innings during SoftBank’s Hawks 2-1 extra-inning win over the Nippon-Ham Fighters in the first game of the Climax Series at the Mizuho Pay Pay Dome in Fukuoka.
The left-hander opens the series with a 0.00 earned run average. SoftBank’s two runs came courtesy of a solo home run by Isami Nomura and a walk-off RBI single by Hotaka Yamakawa to take 1-0 in the finals of the Pacific League.
By having started the series with a one-win lead, SoftBank now leads the matchup 2-0, needing only one more win and one more tie to secure their qualification for the Japan Series. SoftBank won the Japan Series seven times in the last 15 years (2011,2014, 2015, 2017-2020).