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Yokohama DeNA BayStars Win Japan Series, End 26 Year Drought

Yuri KarasawaNov 3, 20245 MIN READ
Yokohama DeNA BayStars Win Japan Series, End 26 Year Drought

TOKYO, Japan – When the DeNA BayStars left Yokohama after Game 2 last week, they trailed the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the Japan Series 2-0 and had the daunting task of winning two of three on the road just to keep their season alive. 

The SoftBank Hawks were 52-21 at home during the season including the playoffs and had clinched the Japan Series in Fukuoka numerous times during their dynastic dominance in the 2010s. Was this going to be another cakewalk? 

No. The BayStars flipped the script. They ambushed the Hawks, holding SoftBank’s potent offense scoreless for 26 consecutive innings and out-scoring them 16-1 in three consecutive victories. 

DeNA, however, had made a living out of being road warriors this season. They fed off the underdog energy to upset each of their postseason opponents along the way. But, including the playoffs, they were only 34-39 at home. Could they clinch in front of their eager fans with the expectations at an all-time high? 

Game Six: Yokohama DeNA BayStars 11 – Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 2 

Game Six was rained out on Saturday, pushing it back to Sunday. Kohei Arihara, who threw seven shutout frames in the series opener, was tasked with saving SoftBank’s season. After putting two runners on in the first, he got Tyler Austin to ground into an inning-ending double play. But unlike in Game One, DeNA refused to let the veteran right-hander get into a rhythm. 

Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, who returned to Japan in May after four years stateside, homered to center to lead off the second. Later in the frame, red-hot Masayuki Kuwahara hit a two-run single with two outs to put DeNA up 3-0. The BayStars continued to put pressure on Arihara in the third, loading the bases with two outs before Keito Mori drew a walk on a tight full-count pitch to plate the fourth run. 

The game was quickly getting away from the Hawks, but they got two runs back in the fourth inning when Kenta Imamiya led off with a single, and Yuki Yanagita crushed a two-run shot to dead center off Shinichi Ohnuki to cut the lead in half. 

With Arihara struggling, manager Hiroki Kokubo turned to his bullpen early, bringing in Shuto Ogata to pitch the fourth and starter Carter Stewart Jr. in the fifth. But the BayStars were unfazed. With one out, Yasutaka Tobashira singled, Mori walked, and pinch-hitter Keita Sano singled before the Hawks walked in their second run of the night with Kuwahara at the plate. Then, Kouki Kajiwara fought back from an 0-2 count to single home another run, extending DeNA’s lead to four runs again. 

Shunsuke Iwai came in to try to limit the damage, getting Shugo Maki to line out on one pitch, but Austin was hit by a pitch, forcing in another run, and Tsutsugo opened the floodgates with a bases-clearing double to make it 10-2. Toshiro Miyazaki added another timely hit to bring the score to 11-2 with a seven-run fifth inning explosion. 

The rest of the game merely felt like a formality, as the BayStars went with a relay of Haruhiro Hamaguchi, Yuya Sakamoto, Hiromu Ise, and Kohei Morihara to finish the game. Sakamoto was credited with the win. Morihara struck out Yanagita on a forkball to clinch the championship. The team gave manager Daisuke Miura a customary do-age, lifting him into the air in celebration. 

The victory marks the DeNA BayStars’ first Japan Series title since 1998 and just their third title overall in franchise history, with one title being won when the BayStars were still the Taiyo Whales in 1960. Their .507 regular season winning percentage is the lowest to ever for a team that went on to win the Japan Series. It’s also the first time a three-seed has won it all since the 2010 Lotte Marines won it all.  

Masayuki Kuwahara was named series MVP. He made several great defensive plays in center field and went 12 for 27 with one homer and nine RBIs in six games. Kenta Imamiya took the ‘Fighting Spirit’ award, given to the best player on the losing side.  

The Japan Series title will reside in Yokohama until 2025, when the next season of the NPB starts, and 11 other teams will try to dethrone the DeNA BayStars.  

WBN NPB: /news/category/japan 

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