09/24/2008 Buffaloes 4, Hawks 1

At Yahoo Dome, Hirotoshi Kitagawa ignited the offense with a
fifth-inning solo homer and Kazuki Kondo threw eight shutout innings
as Orix handed Softbank its sixth straight game and cut its magic
number to make the Climax Series playoffs to three.

Kitagawa connected off D.J. Houlton (4-7) and made it 2-0 with a
sacrifice fly in the sixth before the Buffaloes stretched the lead on
RBI singles from Shinji Shimoyama and Tuffy Rhodes. Kondo (9-7)
scattered six hits in winning his third straight start.

The result in Sadaharu Oh's final home game as Softbank skipper
means the Hawks will finish in the bottom half of the league
standings for the first time in 11 years. Legendary Oh, who owns the
all-time career home run record, announced his decision Tuesday to
bid farewell to baseball at the end of the season.

Category:

Sports

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