Takahiro Norimoto won a scintillating pitchers' duel with Rick van den Hurk on Wednesday before the Pacific League-leading Rakuten Eagles added on against the SoftBank Hawks bullpen in a 4-1 win.
Norimoto (10-2) allowed a run in eight innings, while striking out 11. He gave up five hits and walked three. Van Den Hurk (8-5), who was burned on a fluke RBI single, gave up two runs on five hits and two walks over 6-2/3 strong innings.The victory, before 27,209 at Kobo Park Miyagi, moved the Eagles 2-1/2 games clear of the Hawks in the PL standings.With neither pitcher showing any sign of breakin…READ FULL ARTICLE
