TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — While the excited Lions fans were giving big cheers, pitcher Hideaki Wakui was uneventfully doing his job.
Wakui excelled on the grand stage of the playoffs and unheralded power hitter Taketoshi Goto had a big night to guide Seibu to a 9-0 victory over the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, and a Japan Series berth, on Wednesday before a crowd of 21,731 at Seibu Dome.
With the triumph in Game 5 of the Pacific League Climax Series, the Lions ended the Fighters' dream for a third straight Japan Series appearance, while they're making their first trip to the Japan's Fall Classic in four years.