Kosuke Fukudome came through when his team needed him the most, delivering a 12th-inning, walk-off home run to lift the Hanshin Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the archrival Yomiuri Giants on Tuesday night.
Hanshin won its fourth consecutive game and beat the Central League-leading Giants for the second night in a row at the fabled ballpark at Koshien Stadium. With the victory, second-place Hanshin closed the gap to 1-1/2 games on Yomiuri.
It was all the more cathartic after Tigers starter Randy Messenger brought his team to life and back in the game with a clutch single as Hanshin rallied for a 2-1 lead in the sixth, only for Yoshinobu Takahashi to hit a game-tying homer in the ninth.