NAGOYA -- The Japan Series is knotted at ones after the opening leg of the Hinomaru-style Fall Classic, and Japan Times baseball writer Stephen Ellsesser is battling off the one-two punch of post-midnight Mexican food and the stuffy conditions at Nagoya Dome during Game 2.
Just before boarding the plane to head north for Games 3, 4 and 5 of the Japan Series, Ellsesser shook some of the cobwebs and odd ends out of his notebook for a Nagoya wrap, hold the ranch.
In a sentence: Is anyone surprised that offense has not been the dominant force in this Japan Series?