Sports

BASEBALL | Buffaloes Earn Sayonara Win over Hawks and a Japan Series Rematch with Swallows

Orix's Keita Nakagawa delivered the game-winning hit with two outs in the ninth, ending SoftBank's comeback hopes and keeping his team's title ambitions alive.

Published

2 years ago

October 15, 2022

Ed Odeven

Orix Buffaloes players sprint out of the team's dugout and jump for joy after Keita Nakagawa hit a walk-off single in the ninth inning in Game 4 of the Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage on October 15 in Osaka. (ⒸSANKEI)

This article first appeared on SportsLook, JAPAN Forward's dedicated sports website.

With two outs in the ninth inning, Keita Nakagawa stroked a run-scoring, walk-off single to left field, leading the Orix Buffaloes to a 3-2 win over the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on Saturday night, October 15.

With the win in Game 4, Orix eliminated the Hawks from the Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage at Kyocera Dome Osaka.

This year's Japan Series, starting on October 22, will be a rematch of last year's championship series, when the Tokyo Yakult Swallows won the best-of-seven series 4-2. Game 1 will be held at Jingu Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:30 PM.

The Swallows eliminated the Hanshin Tigers in the Central League Climax Series Final Stage on Friday night, winning 6-3 in Game 3 and earning a series sweep. (The regular-season champions in the Central and Pacific Leagues receive an automatic one-win advantage to start their respective series.

Read the full story on SportsLook.

Author: Ed Odeven

Follow Ed on JAPAN Forward's [Japan Sports Notebook] here on Sundays, in [Odds and Evens] here during the week, and Twitter ＠ed_odeven, and find him on JAPAN Forward's dedicated sports website, SportsLook.