They had made a number of free-agent acquisitions and also conducted good drafts over the years, with many of the free agents coming from the Seibu Lions.
Young star Kenshin Kawakami was just breaking onto the scene in 1999, and he was part of a starting rotation that also had lefty screwballer Masahiro Yamamoto.
One of the hits in question came off the bat of Daiei leadoff man Akiyama, who cranked his first home run of the series at the start of the 6th.
Second-year starter Kenshin Kawakami started for the Dragons and had a much better game than Noguchi did the previous day.
Kawakami also got a lot of help from both his offense and Daiei starter Kenichi Wakatabe, as he was all over the place in the first inning.
Daiei answered in the bottom of the inning quickly, as Akiyama blasted his second home run to left field, slashing the Chunichi lead in half.
However, Wakatabe coughed up any opportunity that the Hawks had of getting back into the game by giving up two more runs in the second, with the walks again hurting him.
This time, he got two quick outs, but a double to Mashida and Fukudome's second walk set up Gomez, who knocked in both runners and chased the Daiei starter.
He was knocked around for two runs in the 5th, as he gave up a single to Tatsunami and a double to Lee Jong-Beom before loading the bases with a walk to Kazuki Inoue.
Daiei would strike for one run in the 8th off a tiring Kawakami, this one off the bat of Koichiro Yoshinaga after Chihiro Hamana singled, but it was far too little, too late, as Chunichi tied the series with a dominating 8-2 win.
With the series shifting back to the Nagoya Dome for Games 3 through 5, the Dragons had hoped to have some home-field advantage going as they sent veteran screwballer Masa Yamamoto to the mound against Hawks' starter Tomohiro Nagai.
The Dragons would find no answers for the Daiei pitching for the second straight day, and for the third time in the series, Chunichi was shut out.
Akiyama once again reinforced his case for the series' Most Valuable Player by singling in Hamana for the first run of the game.
Masahiro Sakumoto made the spot start for the Hawks as the Dragons sent Game 1 starter Noguchi to the mound.
The bottom of the third saw Chunichi's first home run of the series, as Gomez helped to chase Sakumoto, cutting the deficit to 6-2.
Nakamura halved the Daiei lead in the 6th with his first home run of the series, and an RBI double by Lee Jong-Beom pulled the Dragons ever closer at 6-4.