Osaka ¨C Ryoya Kurihara had to wait until his fourth trip to the Japan Series before getting his first hit.
He didn¡¯t have to wait nearly as long for the next two.
Kurihara hit a two-run home run and a two-run double in support of starter Kodai Senga and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks got their chase for a fourth straight Japan Series title off to a winning start with a 5-1 victory over the Yomiuri Giants in Game 1 in front of a crowd of 16,489 at Kyocera Dome on Saturday night.
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