Hiroshima Carp fans might have gone home feeling that a little can sometimes go a long way after Game 2 of the Japan Series. Their Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters counterparts, however, head back to Sapporo thinking that snowballs have a nasty tendency to start avalanches.
The Carp parlayed a leadoff double and a play at the plate, one so close it needed a replay review, into a tiebreaking run in the sixth inning. Then they added three more, as the wheels fell off for Nippon Ham, to move halfway to a long-awaited title with a 5-1 victory on Sunday night in front of a crowd of 30,638 at Mazda Stadium.
"We played Carp baseball yesterday and today," Hiroshima manager Koichi Ogata said. "It was a great game."