Daisuke Yamai combined with Hitoki Iwase in a perfect game Thursday as the Chunichi Dragons downed the Nippon Ham Fighters 1-0 to win Game 5, capturing their first Japan Series title in 53 years.
Yamai pitched a no-hitter over eight innings, striking out six and allowing no walks in a pitching duel with Yu Darvish before handing the game over to Iwase to close out a perfect ninth at Nagoya Dome. Chunichi won the best-of-seven series four games to one.
Tyrone Woods led off the second with a single and reached third on a Norihiro Nakamura double before coming home on Ryosuke Hirata's one-out sacrifice fly. Nippon Ham, led by outgoing manager Trey Hillman, took Game 1 in Sapporo, only to lose the next four in a row.
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