Yomiuri Giants clinch 1st Central League title in 4 Years, 39th Overall; Mark 90th Season as Franchise, Shinnosuke Abe’s 1st as Manager (Update 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:23 JST, September 28, 2024 (updated at 16:00 JST, September 29, 2024)

The Yomiuri Giants capped a final spurt by clinching their first Central League pennant in four years with an 8-1 victory over the Hiroshima Toyo Carp on Saturday night in Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima.

The Giants marked Shinnosuke Abe’s first year as manager by capturing a 39th league title overall in the 90th year of one of Japan pro baseball’s original franchises. The team has 48 titles including those during the one-league era.

“From the start of camp, every single one of us was focused in the same direction,” Abe said. “That we could make it through and win the title, I’m so happy it’s hard to put into words. But there is still [a goal] ahead of us and we will be well prepared for that.”

In an intense CL race that saw the lead change hands several times, the Giants were into first place at least once each month between May and August before taking over the top spot for good on Sept. 5.

In Saturday’s game, Kazuma Okamoto went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and ace Tomoyuki Sugano allowed one run over eight innings to improve to 15-3.

As CL champion, the Giants advance directly to the final stage of the three-team Climax Series, from which the winner will advance to the Japan Series. Starting Oct. 16, the Giants will face the winner of the first-round series between the Hanshin Tigers and either the Carp or Yokohama DeNA BayStars.