TOKYO -- Former major leaguer Jason Standridge pitched six scoreless innings and South Korean slugger Lee Dae-ho hit a two-run homer as the SoftBank Hawks beat the Yakult Swallows 5-0 on Thursday to win the Japan Series in five games.
Standridge struck out two and gave up four hits to pick up the win. Lee connected off Yakult starter Masanori Ishikawa in the fourth to give the Hawks an early 2-0 lead.
SoftBank added two more runs in the top of the fifth inning and another run in the ninth to capture their second straight Japan Series title and the seventh in franchise history.
SoftBank won the first two games of the series by scores of 4-2 and 4-0. Yakult took Game 3 by a score of 8-4, and the Hawks posted a 6-4 win in Game 4.
