Baseball: Ito keeps Buffaloes at bay as Fighters win CS 1st Stage opener

Hiromi Ito tossed seven innings of four-hit ball while striking out nine as the Nippon Ham Fighters beat the Orix Buffaloes 2-0 to win Game 1 of the Pacific League Climax Series First Stage on Saturday.The Fighters finished second in the PL and came into the best-of-three series with the advantage of hosting all games at their home ballpark, Es Con Field Hokkaido, against the third-place Buffaloes.Ito (1-0), who led the PL with 14 wins this year alongside Kohei Arihara of the SoftBank Hawks, pitched out of tight spots in the second and fourth innings before his team scored a run in the home…READ FULL ARTICLE