The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks remained the all-time kings of Nippon Professional Baseball's interleague play on Sunday with a 7-4 win over the Central League-leading Hiroshima Carp.
Although it was just a win in the overall scheme of things, both starting pitchers were on short leashes with the interleague title and a ¥10 million prize going to the winner or — in the case of a tie — to the Carp. The two teams finished at 12-6, but the Hawks got the nod with a better head-to-head record against the Carp.
Takuya Kai broke a 1-1 tie in the second with an RBI single off Carp rookie Yuta Nakamura (3-1), who allowed a two-run single to Shuhei Fukuda before being yanked with two outs and two on in the inning. SoftBank lefty Hiroki Yamada was pulled after facing just 12 batters, making the way for a procession of six relievers.