Yokohama DeNA BayStars Capture 1st Japan Series Title in 26 Years (Update 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:35 JST, November 4, 2024 (updated at 18:30 JST)

YOKOHAMA — The Yokohama DeNA BayStars ended over a quarter-century wait to capture a third Japan Series title, and did it by taking the most circuitous route possible.

Veteran Yoshitomo Tsutsugo homered and drove in four runs as the BayStars routed the Pacific League champion Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 11-2 in Game 6 on Sunday night at the Yokohama Stadium to win the best-of-seven series 4-2.

BayStars leadoff hitter Masayuki Kuwahara was named the MVP in the series, in which the clinching win marked the only game in which the home team came out on top. The Hawks won the first two games of the series in Yokohama before the BayStars swept the next three in Fukuoka.

“The [Hawks] were a team that we had to put everything we had into every game,” BayStars manager Daisuke Miura said. “We were further united in Fukuoka and gained momentum, and every one of us gave our best performance back in Yokohama.”

In adding to its past titles in 1960 and 1998, the BayStars became just the second team after the 2010 Chiba Lotte Marines to win a Japan Series after finishing third in their league since the start of the Climax Series playoffs in 2007. The third-place team has to play all games of the Climax Series on the road.

The BayStars started by eliminating the second-place Hanshin Tigers, then defeated the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants to advance to the Japan Series.

The BayStars’ victory marks the fifth time overall and the first time in five years that a non-league champion has won the Japan Series, and gives the Central League a 38-37 lead in the matchup with its rival league.

On Sunday, the BayStars banged out double-digit hits for the third game in a row and all but put the game away with a seven-run fifth inning. The BayStars struck first in the second inning, when Tsutsugo hit a solo home run and Kuwahara added a two-run single for a 3-0 lead, then added another run in the fourth.

The Hawks cut the gap to two runs in the top of the fourth with Yuki Yanagita’s two-run homer, only to see Yokohama explode for seven in the fifth, led by Tsutsugo’s three-run double as they batted around the order.

Four relievers held the Hawks to one hit over the final five innings. In the four losses, the Hawks had a total of just three runs.

Kuwahara earned the MVP award by driving in at least one run in five straight games, but it was Tsutsugo who inspired the BayStars to their improbable victory. He had returned to the team after five less-than-productive years across the Pacific in the major leagues, where he also spent time in the minors and an independent league.

“I was glad that my home run gave momentum to the team,” Tsutsugo said of his solo shot off Hawks starter Kohei Arihara, who had beaten the BayStars in the series opener.