YOKOHAMA - Yuto Kawamura belted a go-ahead solo home run in the 10th inning to give the SoftBank Hawks a 4-3 win over the DeNA BayStars and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Japan Series on Sunday.
Gunning for their second straight Japan Series title, skipper Hiroki Kokubo's Hawks were coming off a 3-1 victory over 11 innings in Saturday's closely fought Game 1.
Kawamura's solo home run against right-hander Hiromu Ise (0-1) put the Pacific League champions back on top in a battle that sprang to life late at Yokohama Stadium.
SoftBank starter Livan Moinelo tossed seven shutout innings, allowing five hits while striking out eight, before leaving the mound with the Fukuoka-based club up 2-0.
Tomoya Masaki broke the ice with a solo home run in the top of the third, and SoftBank doubled its lead the following inning on Yudai Shoji's RBI double.
The BayStars got on top of right-hander Yuki Matsumoto in the eighth, getting two runners aboard before Yoshitomo Tsutsugo delivered a go-ahead three-run blast over left field for a 3-2 lead.
Kokubo brought in Hotaka Yamakawa as a pinch hitter in the top of the ninth, and the veteran slugger delivered a solo home run that knotted the game 3-3, sending it to extra innings and setting the stage for Kawamura's heroics.
Kawamura, who had entered the game as a pinch runner, had not hit a home run in 103 regular season games this year before launching the one-out shot over center field to the batter's eye.
"We just need two more wins. I want to make sure we're fully prepared for the (next) games," Kokubo said. "As for Kawamura's home run -- I imagine it came as a surprise not just to us, but to all the fans as well."
The series shifts to Fukuoka's Mizuho PayPay Dome for Game 3 on Tuesday.
