Hawks’ Hurlers Tie for PL Titles on Final Day of Regular Season

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:40 JST, October 8, 2025

Right-hander Kohei Arihara notched his 14th win and closer Kazuki Sugiyama earned his 31st save, allowing both to tie for the Pacific League title in their respective categories when the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks completed the regular season with a 5-2 victory over Chiba Lotte Marines on Sunday in Chiba.

Arihara allowed one run over six innings to pick up the win and equal Hiromi Ito of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, as the two tied for the league lead for the second year in a row.

“I have nothing but appreciation for my team,” Arihara said.

Sugiyama allowed a run in the eighth inning, but pitched a scoreless ninth to equal the Saitama Seibu Lions’ Kaima Taira for tops in the league in saves.

“I’ll look back [on this season] once the Japan Series is over,” Sugiyama said.

Overall, the PL champion Hawks won eight individual titles as they prepare for the postseason in a quest for a 12th Japan Series championship and first in five years.

The Hawks’ Taisei Makihara won the batting title for the first time with a .304 average — the only player to hit over .300 in the league — while Ukyo Shuto had 35 stolen bases to lead the league for the third straight year and fourth time overall.

The Fighters’ Franmil Reyes earned two crowns, leading the league with 32 home runs and 90 RBIs, and Itsuki Murabayashi of the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles was the hit king with 144. SoftBank’s Tatsuru Yanagimachi had the top on-base percentage of .384.

On the mound, the Hawks’ Livan Moinelo finished with a league-best 1.46 earned run average, winning that title for the second year in a row, Tomohisa Ozeki had the highest winning percentage of .722 and middle reliever Yuki Matsumoto finished first with 44 hold points.