2015 Nippon Series, game two: Matchup between two Dutchies

After the Yakult Swallows fell 2-4 to the Softbank Hawks in game one, it was time for a battle of the Dutchies in game two.

Yesterday Wladimir Balentien went 0 for 3 hitting three groundouts to the shortstop of the Hawks.

Today, Rick van den Hurk was masterful for the Softbank Hawks. In eight innings he threw 109 pitches. He struck
out seven and gave up just three hits and no runs. In the ninth Rick was replaced by Dennis Sarfate who retired the side by striking out two.

Wladmir Balentien couldn’t get a grip on Van den Hurk’s pitches as he struck out twice and flied out to right field.

For three innings both pitchers kept the opponent in check but in the bottom of the fourth, the Hawks scored twice on a homerun hit by Korean slugger Dae-Ho Lee. Two innings later the Hawks added two more on a solo shot hit by Akira Akamura and on a single hit by Shuhei Fukada that drove in Kenta Imamiya from second base.

Even though Wladimir Balentien had said “They got the pitching, we got the hitting”, the Swallows were outhit (3-8) and outscored (0-4).

This game was the Softbank Hawks’ sixteenth shutout victory in the Nippon Series. Rick van den Hurk got in the NPB record books today as he became the first foreign pitcher in the history of the Hawks that recorded a Nippon Series win in his first year in the NPB.