Ex-Yankee Kuroda helps Hiroshima to 1st title in 25 years

TOKYO (AP) Former New York Yankees pitcher Hiroki Kuroda earned the win as the Hiroshima Carp defeated the Yomiuri Giants 6-4 on Saturday to capture its first Central League pennant in 25 years.

Kuroda (9-8) struck out four batters and gave up three runs on six hits over six innings at Tokyo Dome to help Hiroshima to its seventh Central League title in Japanese professional baseball.

Kuroda, 41, turned down a lucrative contract with the Yankees to return in 2015 to the Carp, where he spent his entire career before his first season in Major League Baseball in 2008 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Carp last won the Japan Series championship in 1984.