Tigers edge Giants on 10th-inning single; Starter Shoki Murakami pulled after seven perfect innings

The incredulous cries from Hanshin Tigers fans rang out around Tokyo Dome the second the public address announcer said Fumihito Haraguchi’s name. It was no slight against Haraguchi, a longtime member of the team. It was because Haraguchi was heading to the plate as a pinch hitter for starting pitcher Shoki Murakami, who was six outs away from a perfect game.

When Kazuma Okamoto led off the bottom of the eighth with a game-tying home run for the Yomiuri Giants, it only added insult to injury to the legion of yellow-clad fans in the stands in left field.

The fans and players were still all smiles by the end of the night, though, after Koji Chikamoto hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the 10th to help the Tigers earn a 2-1 win over the Giants at the Big Egg on Wednesday.

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Source : Baseball – The Japan Times

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