Baseball: Sakamoto’s singles propel Tigers into Japan Series

Seishiro Sakamoto put the Hanshin Tigers ahead twice with RBI singles, propelling the Central League champs past the Hiroshima Carp 4-2 on Friday and to a three-game sweep of their Climax Series Final Stage.

The win in front of their frenzied fans at historic Koshien Stadium outside Osaka earned the Tigers their first Japan Series berth since 2014.

With the game tied 1-1 with two outs in the fourth, Sakamoto shot a grounder between third and short to put the Tigers in front. In the sixth, Carp starter Hiroki Tokoda jammed Sakamoto with a 2-2 fastball, but the Tigers catcher’s dinky fly floated...