Darvish, Seguignol key Hammies' win

SAPPORO — Yu Darvish is beginning to become a playoff legend.

Nippon Ham Fighters slugger Fernando Seguignol hits a three-run homer off Chunichi Dragons starter Kenshin Kawakami in the bottom of the first inning on Saturday at Sapporo Dome in the opener of the 2007 Japan Series. The Fighters won 3-1. KYODO PHOTO

Hokkaido Nippon Ham's young ace matched the Japan Series strikeout record and went the distance for the second time this postseason, making make a hard-luck loser out of Chunichi Dragons starter Kenshin Kawakami as the Fighters beat the Dragons 3-1 in Game 1 of the Japan Series in front of a crowd of 40,616 on Saturday at Sapporo Dome.

"I'm relieved that we were able to win such an important game," Darvish said.

Darvish allowed one run on four hits to win his third game of the postseason. He also pitched a complete game in Game 1 of the second stage of the Pacific League Climax Series against the Chiba Lotte Marines.

"Most of the time I felt like he was dominating," Fighters manager Trey Hillman said.

The Fighters took a 1-0 lead in the series despite being held to two hits by Chunichi's ace, who beat them in last season's Japan Series opener.

Kawakami gave up Fernando Seguignol's home run in the first and was perfect from that point until Makoto Kaneko singled in the eighth.

At 21 years old and in just his third season, Darvish is 5-1 with three complete-game victories in his playoff career, with the only loss coming in Game 1 of the 2006 Japan Series.

"Every time I pitch in a big game like this I get some extra power," Darvish said.

On Saturday he added to his budding playoff legacy by striking out Motonobu Tanishige to end the game and match the Japan Series single-game strikeout record of 13 set in 1975 by Hiroshima Carp hurler Yoshiro Sotokoba against the Hankyu Braves and matched by Daiei Hawks pitcher Kimiyasu Kudo in the '99 Japan Series against Chunichi.

"If I get another opportunity, I'd like to break it," Darvish said.

The Nippon Ham hurler said that during the game he was unaware that he was flirting with history.

"Not at all," he said when asked if he was aware of the record.

"I asked a PR person during the game, but I didn't care much."

He gave the Fighters' fans a bit of a scare in the eighth after the Nippon Ham trainers came out to check on his left leg. The problem was not deemed serious and Darvish was able to continue.

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters starter Yu Darvish strikes out a Japan Series record-tying 13 batters and allows just four hits, all singles, in an impressive complete-game effort in Game 1 of the championship on Saturday. The Fighters defeated the Chunichi Dragons 3-1. Darvish's lively fastball reached speeds of more than 150 kph during the game, prompting Fighters manager Trey Hillman to call his ace's performance outstanding. KYODO PHOTO

Seguignol added to his recent playoff success with a home run in his first at-bat. After going 2-for-15 to start the postseason, Seguignol is 4-for-7 with two home runs and six RBIs in his last two games.

"He hit a three-run home run off (Chiba Lotte's Yoshihisa) Naruse last time out," Darvish said. "So I thought we were going to win today too."

Kawakami, who had beaten Darvish in their last two meetings, gave up all three runs and struck out seven over eight innings.

Kawakami retired 21 consecutive batters at one point, but failed to get the run support he needed to overcome a rocky start.

"I know he hasn't had as dominating a season as he did last year (when Kawakami was a 17-game winner) but for me, in my eyes, from what he did today he's every bit as good as he was last year," Hillman said.

In the bottom of the first, Chunichi's ace issued a leadoff walk to Hichori Morimoto, who moved to second on Kensuke Tanaka's sacrifice bunt. Kawakami then issued a free pass to Atsurnori Inaba before giving up Seguignol's 130-meter blast to center.

"For us, it was pitching and defense," Hillman said, summing up the victory. "Two big walks and a key home run.

"The thing that compounded the home run was the two walks. We had to battle to get those. Take away the two walks, it's a 1-1 game. He's (Kawakami) very good. I have a lot of respect for him."

The Dragons threatened to close the gap in the sixth after putting runners on the corners with one away. Masahiko Morino followed with a deep fly ball to center which allowed a run to score and cut Nippon Ham's advantage to 3-1.

Chunichi seemed primed to cut into the lead further with Tyrone Woods, who hit 35 home runs in the regular season and added three more in the playoffs, at the plate. The Dragons failed to capitalize however as Woods grounded into a double play to end the inning.

"It's hard to pitch against them," Darvish said. "They have good batters so I kept being careful."

Staff writer Kaz Nagatsuka contributed to this story.