A trio of Beijing Olympic gold medals, Roki Sasaki's perfect game and boxer Naoya Inoue's success were among 2022's defining sports highlights for Japan.
The 2022 Japan Series champions seized momentum with back-to-back victories at Kyocera Dome in Games 4 and 5, recovering from two losses and a tie.
Buffaloes starter Hiroya Miyagi and outfielder Yutaro Sugimoto were the Game 7 heroes for the Pacific League champions.
Five Orix pitchers team up for a one-hit shutout in Game 6 at Jingu Stadium as the reigning champions lose their third straight Japan Series game.
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...
Yutaro Sugimoto drove in the only run in the third inning, and Orix ended Yakult pitcher Masanori Ishikawa's chance of winning Game 4 in back-to-back years.
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.
Yakult outscored Hanshin 18-7 in three Central League Climax Series Final Stage games, completing a series sweep in dramatic fashion.
The Swallows slugger overcame obstacles and broke Japanese-born players' single-season home run record with considerable pressure heaped upon him.
