Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009

No surprise: Yomiuri Giants slugger Shinnosuke Abe, who has a penchant for clutch hits, smacks a three-run seventh-inning home run off Kia Tigers reliever Gwak Jeong Cheol on Saturday in Nagasaki. Yomiuri beat Kia 9-4 in the Japan-Korea Club Championship. KYODO PHOTO

NAGASAKI (Kyodo) Japan Series MVP Shinnosuke Abe highlighted a seven-run seventh inning with a go-ahead three-run homer as the Yomiuri Giants beat the Kia Tigers 9-4 in the Japan-Korea Club Championship on Saturday.

Abe's shot to right off reliever Gwak Jeong Cheol put Yomiuri up 4-3 before Alex Ramirez's two-run single and RBI singles from Yoshiyuki Kamei and Takahito Kudo broke open the contest in the seventh.

"I'm relieved we managed to win the very last game of the year," Yomiuri manager Tatsunori Hara said. "It was a tough game, but we bounced back and pounded out hits in the seventh inning."

Hara guided Japan to the World Baseball Classic title in March and the Giants to the Japan Series and Asian titles in the fall.

"It's not me. I was just blessed by great players and fans along the way," said the former Yomiuri star.

The Giants received a winning prize of ¥20 million out of the ¥25 million purse in the one-game championship at Big N Stadium.

The Korean Series champion Tigers had a 3-0 lead through five innings. Na Ji Won delivered an RBI single in the first off Dicky Gonzalez and a two-run single in the fifth off Tetsuya Utsumi.

Michihiro Ogasawara got Yomiuri on the board with a two-out solo homer in the sixth off Yang Hyeon Jong, who threw 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts.

In the seventh, Kamei had a leadoff single and pinch hitter Kudo followed with a walk to set the stage for Abe.

The hot-hitting catcher then drove a 1-0 fastball into the right-field seats. The Giants sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning, putting together six hits.

"I feel great! The first two batters got on base, so I just tried to follow them in that situation," Abe said. "Kia has a lot of good hitters. Their starting pitcher came out strong against us. They really put us in a hole."

Takahiko Nomaguchi won in relief. Wilfin Obispo got the save after allowing one run in three innings.

Yomiuri first baseman Lee Seung Yeop had a pair of doubles against his countrymen. Kamei finished with four hits, while Kudo added a run-scoring single in the ninth.

"It's a shame that the bullpen was ineffective in the seventh," Kia manager Cho Bum Hyun said. "Our young players' immaturity and lack of experience took a toll on this big stage."

The Club Championship replaced the financially strapped Asian Series this year.

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China are working together to possibly resume the Asian Series next year. Japanese clubs have won all four times since the 2005 inception of the series.

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