Ogasawara, Abe power Giants to 2-1 Japan Series lead

Michihiro Ogasawara and Shinnosuke Abe each homered and drove in three runs Tuesday as the Yomiuri Giants beat the Nippon Ham Fighters 7-4 in Game 3 to take a two games-to-one lead in the Japan Series.
 
Ogasawara put Yomiuri up 5-3 in the fifth inning with a two-run double off the wall in left-center after hitting a solo home run in the third at Tokyo Dome.
 
‘‘I finally came up with a hit I was looking for. (Tetsuya) Matsumoto got a base hit and created a run-scoring opportunity for me, so I wanted to come through,’’ said Ogasawara of his tiebreaking two-run double.
 
In the fifth, Hayato Sakamoto drew a two-out walk and Matsumoto followed with his second hit of the night to set the table for Ogasawara, who entered the game with a .125 (1-for-8) series batting average.
 
‘‘I didn’t really think about a pitch to hit or anything in that situation. I just reacted to that pitch,’’ he said.
 
Nippon Ham drew within a run in the eighth when Kensuke Tanaka scored on a catching error by first baseman Lee Seung Yeop, but Abe delivered a two-run single in the bottom half of the inning to push Yomiuri’s lead to three runs.
 
Wirfin Obispo (1-0) allowed three runs and four hits in six innings. The Dominican right-hander struck out six and walked two in a 111-pitch outing.

Oh, and:

Former U.S. President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch and watched the game with former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. It was the Giants’ 100th Japan Series win.