Ace pitcher Shohei Otani struck out 15 in a one-hitter and Brandon Laird homered as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters clinched the Pacific League pennant on Wednesday with a 1-0 victory over the Seibu Lions
Before a crowd of 28,261 at Seibu Prince Dome, the 22-year-old Otani (10-4) had superb command of his fastball and breaking pitches to outduel Seibu lefty Yusei Kikuchi (12-7), a fellow graduate of Iwate Prefecture's Hanamaki Higashi High School.
Otani, who recorded his first shutout of the season, previously struck out 16 batters in a game on July 9, 2014 against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.