OSAKA — Almost one week ago the Hanshin Tigers cruised by the Chunichi Dragons in a meaningless contest.
The game meant a lot more on Saturday night, only it was Chunichi ace Kenshin Kawakami making things look easy.
Kawakami pitched seven innings of shutout ball, Tyrone Woods and Masahiko Morino provided the offense, and the Dragons defeated the Tigers 2-0 in Game 1 of the first stage of the Central League Climax Series in front of a crowd of 33,824 at Kyocera Dome.