The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks jumped out to a big lead in a Japan Series game for the second straight day on Sunday, October 27.
With two outs in the first inning, cleanup hitter Hotaka Yamakawa provided the early spark, belting a two-run home run to left off Yokohama DeNA BayStars starter Shinichi Ohnuki on a 1-2 curveball at Yokohama Stadium.
It was a positive omen for the Hawks in their 6-3 victory over the BayStars. SoftBank now holds a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. (The Hawks won the opener 5-3 on Saturday.)
"I wasn't sure about it at the moment I hit it," Yamakawa said of his home-run swing, according to Nikkan Sports. "But it reached the stands."
Added Yamakawa, according to Kyodo News, "I was behind in the count but still looking for something good to hit."
The Hawks extended their lead to 5-0 in the third inning on a Takyuya Kai sacrifice fly. And they took a 6-0 lead in the fourth on a Yamakawa RBI single.
Yamakawa, NPB's leader in home runs (34) and RBIs (99) during the 2024 regular season, went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs. Teammates Taisei Makihara and Ukyo Shuto also had two hits apiece.
Ohnuki lasted just 2⅓ innings in his Japan Series start. He gave up seven hits and he was charged with five runs.
SoftBank didn't have a baserunner after the fourth inning as a quintet of DeNA pitchers (Chihaya Sasaki, Haruhiro Hamaguchi, Hayate Nakagawa, Yuya Sakamoto and Hiromu Ise) silenced the Hawks offense.
Big Hits Early in the Game Pay Off for the Hawks
Early on, it appeared that SoftBank was already on the verge of winning its 14th consecutive Japan Series game, a streak that began in 2018 and produced the team's three consecutive titles through 2020.
Hawks star Livan Moinelo shut down the BayStars offense for four innings.
The BayStars' Masayuki Kuwahara smacked a two-run double in the fifth to cut the lead to 6-2.
But Moinelo was effective in the sixth, holding the hosts to one hit in the inning. Then, in the seventh, the BayStars recorded a pair of two-out hits by Kuwahara and Koki Kajiwara off Moinelo.
SoftBank manager Hiroki Kokubo opted to take Moinelo, who had scattered eight hits in 6⅔ innings, out of the game after the left-hander had tossed 109 pitches. Moinelo struck out six.
With runners on first and second, Shugo Maki hit a run-scoring double to left off reliever Shuto Ogata, who had replaced Moinelo. That trimmed the lead to 6-3.
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo's infield groundout ended the seventh.
SoftBank setup man Darwinzon Hernandez worked a scoreless eighth.
Hawks closer Roberto Osuna, who allowed three runs in the ninth in a shaky outing in Game 1, quickly slammed the door on the BayStars a day later. He recorded a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the save.
A Manager's Perspective
After Game 2 ended, Kokubo acknowledged that his team faced a formidable challenge against the BayStars.
"Yamakawa's two-run homer in the first got us into a good rhythm in the first half [of the game]," the Hawks manager was quoted as saying by Nikkan Sports. "But thanks to the efforts of DeNA's [bullpen], we were unable to get even one runner on after the fourth inning, and it was a very heavy and difficult game."
Kokubo added: "In the end, Hernandez and Osuna got us out of the game with three solid outs each, so I think it was a tight game at the end."
A Look Ahead
The Japan Series shifts to Fukuoka for Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, 5 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, October 29, 30 and 31 at Mizuho PayPay Dome. Games 6 and 7 would be held at Yokohama Stadium on November 2 and 3.
"We just need to win two more games," Kokubo was quoted as saying by Nikkan Sports. "I want to go back to Fukuoka and show the Hawks fans how good we are."
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Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.
