The Hanshin Tigers are halfway home.
Minoru Iwata snuffed out almost all of the Yomiuri Giants' myriad of scoring chances, Takashi Toritani and Matt Murton drove in two runs apiece, and the Tigers took the initiative in the Central League Climax Series Final Stage with a 5-2 victory in front of a crowd of 44,728 on Thursday night at Tokyo Dome.
The Tigers now have two of the four wins they need to book a date back at home in Koshien Stadium for the start of the Japan Series on Oct. 25. Hanshin has won both of the final-stage games on the field and holds a 2-1 lead over Yomiuri, which began with an automatic 1-0 advantage, in the series.
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