They may have needed an extra inning to get there, but the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks were right where they wanted to be when Game 5 ended, 4 hours and 25 minutes after it began.
On the brink of yet another Japan Series title.
Yuki Yanagita, a Hiroshima native, sent the second pitch he saw to lead off the 10th inning into the home run terrace in right field to give the Hawks a sayonara 5-4 victory over the Hiroshima Carp on Thursday night in front of a crowd of 35,917 at Yafuoku Dome.