Hotaka Yamakawa began Game 1 of the Japan Series on the bench and did not even swing his bat in his lone plate appearance.
The Hanshin Tigers probably would have preferred it to stay that way in Game 2.
Yamakawa’s first two swings resulted in a two-run double and a three-run homer as the slugger helped power the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to a 10-1 rout of the Tigers at Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka on Sunday night.
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