Tokyo Dome was rocking and the Chunichi Dragons were reeling. All it would take was one final blow to finish putting the nail in the coffin.
As he has so many times this year, Yoshihito Ishii turned out to be the man for the job.
Ishii singled in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to keep the Yomiuri Giants' season alive with a 3-2 victory over the Dragons in Game 5 of the Central League Climax Series final stage on Sunday night.