Van den Hurk strikes down Carp as Hawks repeat as Japan champions

Rick van den Hurk struck out 10 over six innings to pitch the SoftBank Hawks to their second straight Japan Series championship with a 2-0 Game 6 victory over the Hiroshima Carp on Saturday.The Hawks, who failed to repeat as Pacific League champions but advanced to the season-ending series through the playoffs, became Japan Series champions for the ninth time in franchise history and for fourth time in five years."Since the end of the season, the players have been carrying the scars (from finishing second) and have played their hearts out," said Hawks manager Kimiyasu Kudo, whose three seri…READ FULL ARTICLE