The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have taken a 2-0 lead over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the 2026 Japan Series with consecutive extra-inning wins at Yokohama Stadium.

Yudai Shoji’s 11th-inning double decided the opener, while late home runs from Hotaka Yamakawa and Yuto Kawamura helped SoftBank recover from a blown lead in Game 2. The Hawks are now two wins from their second consecutive championship as the series heads to Fukuoka.

The matchup is a rematch of the 2024 Japan Series, when DeNA also lost the first two games at home before winning four straight. The BayStars again entered this year’s series after finishing third in the Central League, sweeping both rounds of the Climax Series in upset fashion to earn another shot at the Pacific League pennant-winners.

The series also features matchups between former teammates. SoftBank acquired catcher Yudai Yamamoto from DeNA in May in exchange for pitcher Shuto Ogata and infielder Tomoya Inoue, putting all three on opposite sides of the championship matchup just months later. DeNA’s Masaki Mimori and SoftBank’s Taiga Kamichatani are also facing their former teams.

Game 1: SoftBank 3, DeNA 1 (F/11)

Naoyuki Uwasawa and Yutaro Ishida duked it out to keep the game scoreless through six innings.

Uwasawa escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first by getting Koki Kajiwara to ground into a double play, then worked through seven scoreless innings. He allowed six hits and struck out four on 97 pitches.

Ishida nearly matched him, allowing one run over 6 ⅔ innings with five strikeouts.

SoftBank broke through in the seventh after Taisei Makihara singled and Yamamoto doubled to put runners on second and third. Shoji’s groundout then scored Makihara.

However, Shugo Maki tied it in the eighth with a two-out solo homer off Yuki Matsumoto, giving the superstar second baseman his fifth home run in seven postseason games.

DeNA had a chance to win in the ninth when Mimori singled and stole second and third with two outs, but Darwinzon Hernández struck out Takuma Hayashi to send the game to extras.

The Hawks went ahead in the 11th after Yuki Yanagita doubled and Yamamoto was hit by a pitch. Shoji followed with a double over Ryuki Watarai’s head in left to score pinch runner Kawamura. Tatsuru Yanagimachi added a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.

Roberto Osuna earned the win, and Kazuki Sugiyama secured the save by getting Toshiro Miyazaki to fly out to clinch Game 1.

Game 2: SoftBank 4, DeNA 3 (F/10)

Reigning Pacific League MVP Liván Moinelo rebounded from his shaky Climax Series outing with seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out eight on 91 pitches.

Tomoya Masaki gave him a lead with a solo homer off former teammate Ogata in the third, and Shoji doubled home Yamamoto in the fourth to make it 2-0.

DeNA’s offense finally came alive after Moinelo departed. Watarai singled and Maki was hit by a pitch to begin the eighth against Matsumoto.

Following a Keita Sano flyout, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo hit an opposite-field three-run homer to left, giving the BayStars their first lead of the series. Matsumoto surrendered a crucial eighth-inning homer for the second straight night, raising questions about the setup man’s usage for the rest of the series.

But the lead didn’t last, as pinch hitter Yamakawa smashed a towering shot to left field out of the stadium off Sean Reynolds with one down in the ninth.

DeNA threatened with two on in the bottom half, but Hernández retired Sano and Tsutsugo, sending another game to extras.

Kawamura, who had replaced Yanagita as a pinch runner in the eighth, delivered the unlikely winning homer off Hiromu Ise in the 10th. He entered the game with just one career NPB home run and had never batted in the Japan Series.

Sugiyama then worked around a two-out single by getting Miyazaki to fly out again to secure his second save of the series.

Game 3 is scheduled for October 27 at Mizuho PayPay Dome, where SoftBank will have the opportunity to close out the series with three straight home games, something they failed to accomplish in 2024.