Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Avoid Historic Collapse, Clinch Japan Series Berth

It definitely wasn’t easy, but the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have booked a date with the Hanshin Tigers in the 2025 Japan Series after taking down the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in the Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage, four games to three.

It marks the Hawks’ 22nd Japan Series appearance in franchise history and their second straight, after falling to the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, 4-2, in last year’s edition.

As Pacific League pennant winners, the Hawks started the series with an automatic 1-0 advantage and had the luxury of playing every game at home. Still, the Fighters made the Hawks work hard for it, pushing the series to a decisive Game 6 after falling behind 3-0. Had the Fighters pulled off the reverse sweep, it would have been the first time a team blew a 3-0 series lead in PL history. Luckily for SoftBank, they avoided disaster, edging the decider by a score of 2-1.

The stage was set for a rematch of Game 1 between Hawks ace Livan Moinelo and Fighters rookie Kota Tatsu, both returning to the mound on short rest.

SoftBank opened the scoring in the third as Ukyo Shuto hit a grounder to first. Kotaro Kiyomiya made the play at the bag, but his throw to second for the double play struck Taisei Makihara in the back, and Takashi Umino crossed the plate on the error.

Tsuyoshi Shinjo’s team quickly answered in the top of the fourth, with Yuya Gunj doubling home Kota Yazawa to tie things up. It would stand as the only blemish on Moinelo’s ledger for the entire series, as he locked in from that point on, tossing seven innings of three-hit, six-strikeout dominance.

With the game still tied at one in the bottom of the fifth, the Hawks loaded the bases with two outs for Hikaru Kawase, who lined a 1-1 splitter into right field for a go-ahead single. They seemingly added another run moments later on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Tatsuru Yanagimachi, but replay review showed that Gunji had tagged Shuto before he slid into third, overturning the call.

Once Moinelo handed the ball off, manager Hiroki Kokubo called on their top relievers, Yuki Matsumoto and Kazuki Sugiyama, to finish the job. Matsumoto breezed through the eighth on seven pitches, and Sugiyama fanned two in the ninth before inducing a flyout from Kiyomiya to left, clinching the series for SoftBank.

“It was tough because we lost three consecutive games,” Kokubo reflected after the series. “But Moinelo did such an amazing job throwing the ball today. [Franmil] Reyes was a monster in this series. So it was very important that he held him tonight.” Moinelo was named Series MVP for delivering two brilliant starts, combining for 14 innings of one-run ball with 13 strikeouts.

Despite the loss, Tatsu turned in a strong outing for Nippon-Ham, allowing just the two runs, one of which was unearned, with six punchouts in 5 ⅔ frames.

The Japan Series will kick off on Saturday, October 25, at 6:30 pm local time, with Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 scheduled at Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, as the PL holds home-field advantage this year. Games 3, 4, and 5 will shift to Koshien Stadium in Kobe.

Earlier In the Series – Game 1 was a pitcher’s duel between Moinelo and Tatsu, with both hurlers departing in a scoreless tie. SoftBank finally broke through in the seventh when Isami Nomura launched a solo shot off Seigi Tanaka, but Franmil Reyes answered right back in the eighth with a game-tying homer off Matsumoto.

The deadlock carried into extras, where Hotaka Yamakawa ended it with a bases-loaded chopper over the third baseman that brought home pinch-runner Yudai Shoji to walk it off.

Much like the opener, Game 2 remained scoreless deep into the night. Veteran Kohei Arihara threw six shutout innings for SoftBank, wriggling out of a bases-loaded jam in his final frame. Youngster Ren Fukushima was brilliant, piling up ten strikeouts over seven innings..

But Fukushima ran out of gas in the eighth, issuing two walks before being pulled at 125 pitches. That set the stage for Yuki Yanagita, who crushed a three-run homer the other way off Kenta Uehara to ignite the PayPay Dome crowd. Sugiyama handled the ninth to lock down the win and a commanding 3-0 series advantage.

Nippon-Ham finally broke through in Game 3, taking an early lead against Naoyuki Uwasawa on a Gunji sacrifice fly in the first inning. Franmil Reyes padded the lead with a solo shot in the fourth, and the Fighters blew it open in the seventh as Shu Yamagata led off with a homer, and Gunji smashed a bases-clearing triple later in the inning to make it 6-0. All six runs were charged to Uwasawa, five of them earned.

Ace Hiromi Itoh was untouchable, racking up 11 strikeouts across eight scoreless innings of five-hit ball to keep SoftBank quiet and pull the Fighters back within 3-1 in the series. It also extended his postseason scoreless inning streak to 15, as he threw seven shutout innings last week against the Orix Buffaloes.

Game 4 began with the Hawks taking an early 1-0 lead, but the Fighters stormed back in the third with a four-run rally punctuated by Reyes’s two-run bomb, quickly knocking Tomohisa Ohzeki out of the game. They added two more in the fourth on Shun Mizutani’s solo shot off the right-field foul pole and a Kiyomiya RBI single.

Trailing 7-2 in the fifth, SoftBank got one back on a Yanagimachi RBI double off the wall, but Nippon-Ham put the game out of reach in the seventh when Reyes launched his second two-run homer of the night, and his fourth of the series. Koki Kitayama went seven strong innings, allowing three runs and striking out six, as the Fighters cruised to a 9-3 win.

In Game 5, the Fighters go to Ryosuke Ohtsu in the fourth, with Kiyomiya, Yua Tamiya, and Yazawa each driving in runs to jump out in front. Darwinzon Hernandez couldn’t stop the bleeding an inning later, surrendering three more runs, including a two-run double by Kiyomiya. A squeeze bunt in the sixth made it 7-0. By that point, Nippon-Ham had a 22-3 scoring edge over the last three contests.

Ruei Yang Gu Lin kept the Hawks at bay through 4 ⅔ scoreless innings, striking out six while touching 98 mph. It was his first start since June 3, as he had been pitching out of the bullpen since returning from an injury. Yamakawa homered in the seventh to spoil the shutout, but the Fighters closed out a dominant 7-1 victory to set up a decisive Game 6.

“Just one more!” said Shinjo after the game. Unfortunately for the Fighters, they fell one win short of the historic comeback.

Photo: Livan Moinelo was spectacular as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks punched their ticket to the 2025 Japan Series. (Photo: Getty Images)