Bobby Keppel threw seven solid innings as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters routed the Yomiuri Giants 7-1 on Tuesday in a rematch of the 2009 Japan Series.
Keppel (6-1) allowed one run on three hits — all singles — to win his fifth straight start. The former Minnesota Twins reliever walked two and struck out four in interleague play at Sapporo Dome.
The Fighters turned a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 lead in the third inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Tomohiro Nioka and Shinji Takahashi and Yoshio Itoi's two-run double, all off Tetsuya Utsumi (5-1).
Makoto Kaneko added an RBI double and Hichori Morimoto had a two-run triple in the sixth.