SAPPORO — The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters had the tying run at second, the winning run at first and visions of another walk-off win in the playoffs dancing in their heads.
Except that closer Marc Kroon and the Yomiuri Giants said sayonara to those plans.
Yoshitomo Tani collected three hits, Hayato Sakamoto hit a go-ahead double in the fifth, and Kroon wriggled out of an dangerous situation in the ninth to help the Giants win Game 1 of the Japan Series 4-3 in front of 40,650 fans on Saturday night at Sapporo Dome.