Dutch right-handed pitcher Rick van den Hurk continues his impressive debut season in Nippon Professional Baseball. On Sunday he led his Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to a 4-0 win in game two of the Nippon Series against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. He allowed just three hits in eight scoreless innings, while striking out seven. It’s the first time that a European player picked up the win in a Nippon Series game. Van den Hurk had a 9-0 record with an ERA of 2.52 in 15 games during the regular season. In 2013 and 2014 he won the Korea Baseball Organisation with the Samsung Lions. The Nippon Series continues with games three to five from Tuesday to Thursday.