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DeNA BayStars Stun SoftBank Hawks, Take 3-2 Japan Series Lead

Yuri KarasawaOct 31, 20246 MIN READ
DeNA BayStars Stun SoftBank Hawks, Take 3-2 Japan Series Lead

TOKYO, Japan – The SoftBank Hawks entered their home in Fukuoka with a commanding 2-0 lead in the Japan Series, needing to win just two of three to clinch the championship. They won zero games.

Do we have a repeat of the 2019 World Series on our hands? The DeNA BayStars will have two chances to win in Yokohama this weekend as they’ve flipped the series on its head with three straight road wins against the juggernaut Hawks.

Game 3: Yokohama DeNA BayStars 4 – Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 1

 

Ace Katsuki Azuma got the start for DeNA, having missed the entire championship series with a hamstring injury. Carter Stewart Jr., who got the win in the series-clinching game against Nippon-Ham, took the mound for SoftBank.

The BayStars took their first lead of the series in the 1st as Masayuki Kuwahara led off with a double, Kouki Kajiwara moved him to third, and Shugo Maki brought him home on a ground out. However, the lead didn’t last long, as the Hawks tied it in the bottom frame on an RBI double by Kensuke Kondoh, who made his first start of the series.

Stewart got into trouble in the 3rd and 4th, putting the first two batters on in both innings. But he battled to keep the BayStars off the board in both innings, striking out the side in the 3rd with the split-finger as his primary weapon of choice.

Stewart only threw 69 pitches through four, but his shaky command led manager Hiroki Kokubo to call the pen in the 5th as Ryosuke Ohtsu, who started 19 games in the regular season, entered the game. But he received a rude welcome as Kuwahara took him deep to lead off the inning. He proceeded to allow an infield hit and two walks to load the bases with nobody out.

Ohtsu could never get in a rhythm, and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo crushed a fastball down the middle to deep right field for what looked like a grand slam off the bat, but Yuki Yanagita made a leaping catch at the wall to hold it to a sacrifice fly. Rookie Shunsuke Iwai relieved Ohtsu and cleaned up his mess, preventing DeNA from tacking on.

The Hawks had their best opportunity to come back in the 6th when Kondoh and Kenta Imamiya recorded one-out singles, but Tomoya Masaki and Takuya Kai couldn’t drive them in. Azuma finished his night with seven innings of one-run ball despite allowing ten hits.

Yasutaka Tobashira extended DeNA’s lead in the 8th with an RBI double off Kazuki Sugiyama. SoftBank made setup man Hiromu Ise and closer Kohei Morihara work but ultimately couldn’t muster any offense as the BayStars secured a must-win Game 3.

SoftBank out-hit DeNA, but their pitchers allowed eight walks and didn’t bring their A-game.

Game 4: Yokohama DeNA BayStars 5 – Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 0

Anthony Kay was in complete control of the SoftBank bats early, striking out the side on 14 pitches in the 1st and punching out two more batters in the 2nd. He remained perfect through three innings, throwing just 39 pitches.

SoftBank starter Shuta Ishikawa matched Kay with three scoreless innings to start his night but cracked in the 4th when Tyler Austin took him deep to give DeNA a 1-0 advantage.

The score held until the 7th when the BayStars broke through against SoftBank’s bullpen. Toshiro Miyazaki led off the inning with a homer to double the lead. Kouki Kajiwara reached on an infield hit, Yasutaka Tobashira walked, and Keito Mori singled to load the bases, knocking out Shuto Ogata.

Masayuki Kuwahara then doubled off Shunsuke Iwai, extending the lead to 4-0. Later in the frame, Tyler Austin hit an RBI single to plate the fifth run, but Kuwahara was thrown out at home for the third out.

Kay allowed more contact from the fourth inning onwards but stayed in cruise control, mowing down the Hawks hitters with seven scoreless innings, striking out seven. Yuya Sakamoto and J.B. Wendelken finished the game, capping off a 5-0 shutout.

Ishikawa only allowed one run in 5.2 innings, but his Nippon Series win streak ended at four as DeNA evened the series at two games a piece.

Game 5: Yokohama DeNA BayStars 7 – Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 0

Pitching on short rest, Andre Jackson began his outing just as Kay did in Game 4, striking out the side. Meanwhile, southpaw Tomohisa Ohzeki, who overcame testicular cancer in 2022, kept DeNA scoreless through the first two innings but dealt with traffic on the bases and was forced to throw 58 pitches.

He continued to sweat in the 3rd, and the BayStars took the lead for the third straight night when Yoshitomo Tsutsugo lined an RBI single to center. Having labored for 79 pitches across just 2.2 innings, Kokubo gave him the hook, bringing in Haru Matsumoto, who finished the inning.

Rookie Jun Maeda took the mound in the 4th, allowing back-to-back singles to Masayuki Kuwahara and Kouki Kajiwara before captain Shugo Maki belted a three-run bomb to extend DeNA’s lead to 4-0.

SoftBank’s pitching staff settled down and kept the team within striking distance for a while, but Jackson had no interest in allowing a comeback. He was highly economical with his pitch count, needing just 64 pitches through five innings, enabling him to go far deeper than in Game 1.

A hit by pitch, walk, and wild pitch put runners on second and third with one out in the 7th, but Jackson struck out Hiroki Minei and got Ukyo Shuto to ground out to second to end the frame. With seven shutout frames and eight punchouts, Jackson joined Kay (from Game 4), Matt Moore, Rick van den Hurk, and Joe Stanka as the only foreigners to throw 7+ scoreless innings in Japan Series history.

The BayStars tacked on three more runs in the 9th after a Kuwahara bases-loaded hit by pitch and a Kajiwara two-run double. Hiromu Ise and Hayate Nakagawa shut the door in the 8th and 9th as DeNA’s pitchers held SoftBank scoreless for 26 consecutive innings to end Fukuoka’s homestand.

The Hawks, who led NPB in scoring in the regular season and had an exceptional 124 wRC+ at home, were held to just one run over 27 innings in Games 3-5.

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WBN NPB: /news/category/japan

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