Yamakawa Continues Power Display, Homers in 3rd Straight Game to Give Hawks 3-1 Lead in Japan Series

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:14 JST, October 30, 2025

NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo — Burly Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks slugger Hotaka Yamakawa continues to throw his weight around in the Japan Series.

Yamakawa homered for the third game in a row on Wednesday night, helping the Hawks defeat the Hanshin Tigers 3-2 in Game 4 at Koshien Stadium and move one win away from their first championship in five years.

“I’m always looking to hit a home run,” Yamakawa said.

Yamakawa’s solo blast in his first at-bat in the second inning made him the sixth player in Japan Series history with home runs in three consecutive games, all of which the Hawks went on to win after dropping the opener of the best-of-seven series.

After falling behind in the count against Hanshin starter Haruto Takahashi, Yamakawa hammered a fastball down the middle over the center field fence.

“I hit it off the end of the bat, but I got a good swing on it,” Yamakawa said.

The 33-year-old Yamakawa, in his second season with the Hawks after 10 seasons with the Saitama Seibu Lions, has yet to savor the experience of a Japan Series title. “I have no idea what it will be like, but I certainly want to see,” he said.

Last season, Yamakawa was the Hawks’ established cleanup hitter with 34 home run and 99 RBIs, only to see the team fall in six games to the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the Japan Series, when he hit just one home run and batted .136.

This season saw him fall into a slump and was dropped from the cleanup spot in the lineup. Although he still managed 23 home run — good for second most in the Pacific League — but he batted just .226 and appeared in only 130 games.

Limited to pinch-hitting duty in the opening game against the Tigers, he exploded in Game 2, belting a three-run homer and two-run double in a 10-1 blowout.

With his three home runs in consecutive games, Yamakawa followed in the footsteps of the Nishitetsu Lions’ Futoshi Nakanishi, the Tigers’ Randy Bass and Tomoaki Kanemoto, the Hawks’ Kenji Jojima and the Hiroshima Carp’s Brad Eldred.

“That’s amazing,” Yamakawa said of joining such a group. “I’m really happy.”

On Wednesday night, the Hawks got a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning from Tatsuru Yanagimachi and an RBI single from pinch-hitter Kensuke Kondo in the sixth to take a 3-0 lead.

After Hawks starter Ryosuke Otsu tossed five scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and striking out three, the Tigers managed to push across two runs against reliever Yuki Matsumoto in the eighth inning to pull within one run.

But Kazuki Sugiyama pitched a perfect ninth inning to finish up the win and earn his second save of the series.