Sho Nakata hit a two-run homer to key a four-run sixth inning, Hokkaido Nippon Ham's defense got the team back in the ballgame, and the Fighters rallied to beat the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 5-1 in Game 2 of the final stage of the Pacific League Climax Series on Thursday night.
The Hawks, who received an automatic one-win advantage in the series as the PL champions, lead the series 2-1 against third-place Nippon Ham.
"One of our themes of this series is go out and win one and then another," said Fighters manager Hideki Kuriyama. "Our cleanup man (Nakata) did it, he'll do everything to help the team win. The point is we want to play as many games as possible. Tomorrow we'll come out to get another one, so we can play until the end."