The Chunichi Dragons are on the verge of their first ever consecutive trips to the Japan Series, as they got three late RBIs from rightfielder Byung-kyu Lee to hold on to ta 7-4 victory against Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome in game two of the Central League playoff final. Kenshin Kawakami, started for the Nagoya nine and went seven innings of four run, seven hit ball for the win.

Hiroshi Kisanuki started for the Giants and was history after just 3.2 innings, during which he was tagged for three runs on eight hits to accept blame for the setback. 

Chunichi put two on with two out in the top of the first, but a strikeout rebuffed the scoring attempt.

Yomiuri then went up top in their turn, as third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara singled to right and so did first baseman Seung-yeop Lee. Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka sliced a shot down into the rightfield corner and Ogasawara tooled home for a 1-0 lead. But it stopped right there since catcher Shinnosuke Abe grounded to first. 

However, the Dragons equalized it in the second when catcher Motonobu Tanishige and Kawakami each singled to left with two gone and second baseman Masahiro Araki singled to right to pack the sacks. Shortstop Hirokazu Ibata grounded to Nioka, who threw late to second, and it was ruled a cheap infield hit to tie it at one all. Leftfielder Masahiko Morino grounded to third to leave them loitering. 

Araki booted second baseman Ryota Wakiya's grounder in the home version, but rightfielder Damon Hollins grounded one up the middle that was snagged by Ibata, who flipped it with his glove to Araki, who barehanded it and fired to first for a pretty double play. 

They would put two more on in the third with one out on a hit batsman and a walk, but another double play interdicted it. Those would be their last baserunners through five. 

Chunichi subsequently moved in front in the fourth, as Tanishige singled to center with one out and Kawakami singled to left. It was decided to bring the outfield in to not only give them a better shot at throwing Tanishige out at home, but because Araki, who homers about as often as Wolfgang Puck eats at Burger King, was up. But Araki drove a deep fly ball to the track in leftcenter and it one hopped the wall to get Tanishige in. That would normally have been caught had they been playing at normal depth. Ibata flew out to left and Kawakami tagged up and scurried in to improve it to 3-1. Kisanuki made his exit in favor of Masanori Hayashi and Morino lined out to him for the thrid out. 

Yomiuri put a man on with one out in the sixth on a single, but the twin killing did them in once more. 

In the seventh, Dragons first baseman Tyrone Woods doubled to leftcenter and third baseman Norihiro Nakamura laid down a sac bunt toward first. Seung-yeop Lee grabbed it and gunned it immediately to third. The throw got there ahead of the sliding Woods, but the umpire ruled him safe on the tag. Here's a pic,   make up your own minds. Byung-kyu Lee went gappng to rightcenter to chase in both Nakamura and Woods on the triple. One out later, Tanishige spanked a single to center for his fourth hit of the night and a 6-1 edge. 

Abe, though, singled to center with one out in the seventh and Wakiya singled to right. Hollins got a cutter right on the outside corner and torched it over the centerfield wall to draw within 6-4. That was their last hit of the contest. 

It stayed there until the ninth, when Byung-kyu Lee got an 86mph fastball that was down and over the middle of the plate from closer Koji Uehara and creamed it into the centerfield stands to raise it to 7-4.

Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase retired three of the four men he saw in the ninth and Yomiuri were now down 2-0 in a five game series. 

Hisanori Takahashi will start game three, but he was 1-2 this year against the Dragons with a 4.80 ERA. But it bears noting that coming in, Kawakami was 1-3 with a 3.73 ERA against the Giants in 2007, so it will be a matter of whether Takahashi can rise to the occasion as Kawakami did. 

Before the game, a Yomiuri training coach sprinkled salt in the team's bullpen to purify it in hopes that it would somehow help the relievers perform better.

For Chunichi, Woods was 1-3 with two walks and is at .333. Byung-kyu Lee was 2-5 with two strikeouts and is at .222. 

For Yomiuri, Seung-yeop Lee was 1-4 and is at .375. Hollins was 1-4 and is at .200. Luis Gonzalez was 0-1 in a pinch hit appearance and is at .250. 

Yakult The Swallows are mulling drafting 6'3" 198 pound Kochi (Shikoku Island League) catcher Takao Oyamada. His late father Kenichi is a former Yakult backstop and bullpen catcher. At this point, they want him for his defense because his hitting is still a work in progress. 

Yokohama Kimiyasu Kudoh checked out of hospital after elbow surgery. He says that it has already improved his range of motion. He will have the stitches out on the 22nd and then leave for Arizona soon after to train for next season. 

Yomiuri Rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi sat the game out due to hurting his back while attempting a diving catch Thursday on a foul fly.