Dutch right-hander Rick van den Hurk allowed two runs over seven innings, while striking out 13 and was rewarded by a late comeback from his team as the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks beat the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 4-2 on Sunday.
"I focus on executing one pitch at a time, and that's what happens, I'm not looking for the strikeouts. (I intend to) attack the strike zone, keeping my focus on the next pitch and I was able to do that well today," said van den Hurk, following his second win in as many games.
Kenji Akashi's RBI single off Michael Crotta (1-1) made it 2-1 in the eighth, before Seiichi Uchikawa lined a double to center off a good pitch from Naoki Miyanishi with the bases loaded and one out to give the Pacific League leaders a 4-2 lead.