Kila Ka'aihue came through big time with a tiebreaking three-run homer and Kenta Maeda went seven innings on one-run ball as the Hiroshima Carp pounded the Hanshin Tigers 8-1 in Game 1 of the Central League Climax Series First Stage on Saturday.
The third-place Carp took a 1-0 lead against the second-place Tigers in the best-of-three series. Hiroshima can book a spot in the final stage of the CLCS with a win on Sunday.
Maeda and Tigers rookie Shintaro Fujinami held their own over the first three innings until an RBI single by Ryuhei Matsuyama with none out in the fourth at Koshien Stadium.