Dutchie Rick van den Hurk’s team, the Softbank Hawks, that had clinched a spot in the Nippon Series already, will face the Yokohama DeNA BayStars that beat the Hiroshima Toyo Carp 9-3 today. The Nippon Series, the championship series of the Japanese NPB, will start coming Saturday, October 28.
The Yokohama DeNA BayStars started the Climax Series trailing by one game. The Hiroshima Toyo Carp clinched the first place in the Central League, which gave them home-field advantage for the complete series and an extra win vs the BayStars. The series did not start well for Yokohama as the team lost 3-0 to Hiroshima. But then the team geared up and won three games in a row to take a 3-2 lead.
In today’s game, the Toyo Carp had to win to tie the series at three. In the first inning, it looked like they did what they had to do as the team took a 2-0 lead on a single by Yoshihiro Maru and a double by Xavier Batista. Even though the Carp would score another run in the sixth inning, that was pretty much all they could do.
The BayStars, on the other hand, cut the Carp’s lead in half in the second inning, took a 3-2 lead in the third and scored six more runs, spread out over the remaining six innings.
Two BayStars batters went 3 for 4. Toshiro Miyasaki drove in himself on a solo home run. Tatsuhiro Shibata scored once.
Manager Alex Ramirez, who celebrated successes with the Yomiuri Giants, had an odd way of using his pitchers today. Starter Kenta Ishida lasted only one inning, as he gave up two runs on five hits. Reliever Kazuki Mishima, who earned the win, lasted two frames in which he did not allow a run as he gave up on single and struck out two. Haruhiro Hamaguchi earned the hold as he also lasted two frames, allowing two hits and striking out one. Four pitchers pitched an inning each to complete the nine innings: Tomoya Mikami, Edwin Escobar, Spencer Patton and Yasuaki Yamasaki.
The fact that the BayStars reached the Nippon Series is against all odds as the team finished third in the standings, trailing the Carp by 14.5 games. According to a tweet by US baseball journalist Jim Allen, who resides in Japan, the BayStars cannot match the Carp when it comes to talent. But once again this victory proves a roster loaded with talent means it is a good team.
“We hope that we’re going to win the Nippon Series, representing not only the Yokohama DeNA BayStars but also the Central League,” Alex Ramirez said. “Every day is going to be a challenge for us and we’re going to try our best to win.”
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