Rookie outfielder Norihiro Akahoshi hit a bases-loaded RBI single to left field in the bottom of the 12th inning Wednesday evening, leading the Hanshin Tigers to a 2-1 "sayonara" triumph over the Yomiuri Giants at Koshien.
Yomiuri took a 1-0 lead on Hideki Matsui's sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning, but Hanshin fought back with Akahoshi's game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the frame. Yomiuri's Darrell May and Hanshin's Kei Igawa staged a great pitchers' duel to send the game into extra innings.
Swallows 6, Dragons 2