Baseball: PL champion Hawks book 1st Japan Series spot since 2020

Ukyo Shuto singled in a fourth-inning tiebreaking run and the SoftBank Hawks booked their first Japan Series berth in four years by clinching the Pacific League Climax Series final stage with a 3-2 Game 3 win over the Nippon Ham Fighters on Friday.The Hawks staked right-hander Carter Stewart Jr. to a first-inning lead at Mizuho PayPay Dome on back-to-back two-out RBI doubles from Hotaka Yamakawa and Kensuke Kondo.The Fighters tied it in the third on their first hit off Stewart, a Torai Fushimi homer, a walk and two singles. Shuto singled in Kondo with the tiebreaking run in the fourth, and …READ FULL ARTICLE