Late HRs Lift Hawks over Tigers for 1st Japan Series Title in 5 Years

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:42 JST, October 31, 2025

NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo — Five outs away from victory and with a reliever on the mound who had not given up a run in his last 56 games, the wall suddenly collapsed on the Hanshin Tigers.

When the dust cleared, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks walked out of Koshien Stadium with their first Japan Series title in five years and 12th in franchise history.

Yuki Yanagita hit a game-tying two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Isami Nomura clouted a solo shot in the 11th as the Hawks edged the Tigers 3-2 on Thursday night in a dramatic Game 5 to take the series 4-1 with four consecutive wins.

“Facing the Central League champion Hanshin Tigers, we wanted to find some way to have a good game,” Hawks manager Hiroki Kokubo said. “In a game in which we never had time to catch our breath, and I think we played well.”

Hotaka Yamakawa, who homered in three consecutive games and batted .385, was named the series MVP as the Hawks captured the title for the first time since winning four straight from 2017 to 2020.

The Hawks emerged victorious during a injury-plagued season in which they constantly had to shuffle the lineup. Star outfielder Akira Nakamura had to sit out the series.

“It didn’t matter what shape it took, I wanted to be able to adapt,” said Kokubo, who often relied on younger players as the team bounced back from its loss in last year’s Japan Series to the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

On Thursday, it looked like the Tigers, who had lost three straight after winning the opener, might turn the tide when they took a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning. The Tigers got run-scoring singles from Seishiro Sakamoto in the second inning and Teruaki Sato in the fifth. Sato went 2 for 4 and hit safely in all five games.

To start the eighth inning, Hanshin manager Kyuji Fujikawa, a star reliever in his playing days, turned the ball over to right-hander Daichi Ishii, who had given up only one earned run in 53 innings during the season. Including the postseason, he had been on a run of 56 scoreless outings.

One of Kokubo’s big moves of the game was sending up Hiroki Minei to pinch hit for starting catcher Takashi Umino in the sixth inning. It was Minei, who had singled in that at-bat, who led off against Ishii in the eighth, and he came through again with a single to center.

Ishii then struck out pinch-hitter Jeter Downs, bringing up Yanagita. The 15-year veteran poked the first pitch, a outside fastball, just inside the left field foul pole for a two-run homer to tie the game.

“I just wanted to do something,” Yana- gita said. “I didn’t do much during the season, but to be able to play for the championship for the first time in a while, I’m glad I was able to help the team.”

In the top of 11th inning, Nomura led off by drilling a leadoff home run over the right-field fence off right-hander Shoki Murakami.

Nomura’s home run made a winner of Pacific League saves leader Kazuki Sugiyama, who had set down all six batters he faced in the ninth and 10th innings. Yuki Matsumoto gave up a walk in a hitless 11th for the save.

All told, four relievers held the Tigers to one hit from the sixth inning on.