Facing the China Stars on Saturday, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters charged into Sunday's championship game with their perfect Konami Cup Asia Series record intact.
Fighters right-handed starting pitcher Satoru Kanemura delivers a pitch in Saturday's game against the
China Stars at Tokyo Dome. Kanemura threw five shutout innings for Hokkaido Nippon Ham, which won the
game 6-1.
KYODO PHOTOBut with as the final score of the 6-1 game indicated, the Chinese were less like speed bumps than they had been in their previous games, against Taiwan's La New Bears and South Korea's Samsung Lions.