The 2007 and 2011 tournament winner has a one-stroke advantage over compatriots Ai Suzuki and Miyuu Yamashita.
Ai Suzuki, the 2019 tournament champion, and Momoko Ueda carded 7-under 65s to finish one stroke ahead of compatriots Ayaka Furue and Sakura Koiwai.
Buffaloes starter Hiroya Miyagi and outfielder Yutaro Sugimoto were the Game 7 heroes for the Pacific League champions.
A late try by the Brave Blossoms' Kazuki Himeno put the pressure on the three-time Rugby World Cup winners, who held on for the win.
Yoshida connected for a two-run sayonara homer off Scott McGough to send the Japan Series back to Tokyo all tied up. Game 2 ended in a...
The veteran infielder was hitless in NPB's championship series heading into Tuesday's game, but came up big to give the Swallows a huge boost.
Yakult's Souma Uchiyama slugged a game-tying, three-run homer in the ninth inning, but neither team scored again and the game ended after 12 innings.
In a rematch of last year’s NPB championship series, the Swallows got clutch hitting and a solid start from Yasuhiro Ogawa.
Tokyo Yakult, led by Triple Crown winner Munetaka Murakami, is favored to repeat as NPB champion but Orix is peaking at the right time.
After waiting for years, the hard-throwing right-hander, who has an 87-44 career record, is eligible to make a move to MLB as a free agent.
The American made a clutch birdie on No. 17 to take a two-stroke lead to the final hole at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club.
The American, who has roots in Japan, was steady throughout and came up big on the final hole.