Yuki Yanagita's throw in from center field was good, Kenji Akashi's relay was better and Takuya Kai's tag at the plate was even better still.
All that was just in the first inning, and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks were just getting started. Alfredo Despaigne and Seiji Uebayashi hit home runs and the Hawks bullpen prevented a repeat of the Hiroshima Carp rally that nearly tripped them up a day earlier as SoftBank earned a 4-1 victory in Game 4 of the Japan Series in front of a crowd of 35,796 at Yafuoku Dome.
The Hawks will now take a 2-1 lead (Game 1 was a tie) in the series into Thursday's Game 5. SoftBank also improved to 11-0 in its last 11 Japan Series games at home, dating back to 2011.