2023 Pacific League Climax Series

First Round

vs.

Climax Series First Round (2-1): Chiba Lotte Marines (70-68-5, PL No.2 seed) over the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (71-69-3, PL No.3 seed)

Overview

The two teams who would meet in the 2023 Pacific League Climax Series first round wasn't determined until the last week of the regular season. The Marines held the No. 2 seed for nearly the entire season, but the Hawks rallied and secured a spot first. In the last game of the season, the Marines and the Rakuten Golden Eagles met each other in a win-or-go-home game, and the Marines beat the Golden Eagles to clinch second place in the Pacific League.

The Teams

• Managers: Marines: Masato Yoshii | Hawks: Hiroshi Fujimoto

Marines

Hawks

Umpires

• Tetsuya Shimata, Yuta Suyama, Kengo Iwashita, Hideto Fuke, Yoshiharu Yamaguchi, Chikara Tsugawa and Kyohei Makita

Series results

Game	Score	Date	Pitchers	Time (ET)
1	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 2 Chiba Lotte Marines 8	October 14	Carter Stewart (0-0) Roki Sasaki (0-0)	6:00 pm
2	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 3 Chiba Lotte Marines 1	October 15	Kohei Arihara (0-0) Yuji Nishino (0-0)	6:00 pm
3	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 3 Chiba Lotte Marines 4	October 16	Tsuyoshi Wada (0-0) Kazuya Ojima (0-0)	6:00 pm

Results

Game 1 @ Zozo Marine Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Hawks	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	4	1
Marines	2	0	2	0	0	3	0	1	x	8	9	0
WP: Toshiya Nakamura (1-0), LP: Carter Stewart (0-1)
Home Runs: SOF - Yuki Yanagita (1); LOT - Takashi Ogino (1), Gregory Polanco (1)

• Attendance: 29,126

Since their two strong starting pitchers (Kohei Arihara and Tomohisa Ozeki) were unable to pitch, the Hawks used gaijin Carter Stewart to duel with Lotte's ace, Roki Sasaki, but Takashi Ogino and Gregory Polanco both homered off him in the first inning. Lotte didn't lose a step, as Shogo Nakamura singled then Stewart walked the next two batters. Darwinzon Hernandez took over on the mound the mound, and Nakamura soon scored by his wild pitch, then Polanco's grounder drove in another run. Sasaki just came back from injury, so he only pitched 3 innings and Nakamura replaced him. The Hawks were silent until their best hitter, Yanagita, blasted a 2-run shot off Koji Sakamoto in the 6th inning, but the Marines answered back soon. Hiromi Oka and Polanco both singled in the same inning against Shinya Kayama, then Hisanori Yasuda collected another RBI single. Yuki Tsumori replaced Kayama, but Kyota Fujiwara's double cut the lead to 7-2. Oka doubled in the 8th inning and Yasuda drove in another run, and the Marines' bullpen did their job well to win Game 1.

Game 2 @ Zozo Marine Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Hawks	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
Marines	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	1
WP: Kohei Arihara (1-0), LP: Yuji Nishino (0-1), SV: Roberto Osuna (1)
Home Runs: none

• Attendance: 29,147

The Hawks stood on the edge of elimination, and they sent ace Arihara to the mound. The Hawks scored first as Hikaru Kawase singled in the first inning, then PL RBI leader Kensuke Kondo hit a RBI single against Nishino. Chiba Lotte roared back soon; Fujioka and Katsuya Kakunaka both singled and Polanco tied the game with a sacrifice fly. However, that was Lotte's only run in this game. Arihara blanked them in the next five innings, only allowing 3 hits and struck out four. The Hawks took the lead when Yanagita hit a double after Masaki Mimori's double against Nishino, and Akira Nakamura's hit gave the Hawks another run. Both teams' bullpens didn't allow any runs, and former AL saves leader Roberto Osuna closed the door for the Hawks.

Game 3 @ Zozo Marine Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Hawks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	8	0
Marines	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4	8	0
WP: Koshiro Sakamoto (1-0), LP: Ryosuke Otsu (0-1)
Home Runs: LOT - Yudai Fujioka (1)

• Attendance: 29,050

Game 3 was one of the most dramatic game in PLCS history. 42-year-old veteran Wada started for the Hawks against Ojima, and both starters completed their work perfectly. Wada pitched 5 shutout innings, and Ojima struck out 6 in 6 1/3 shutout innings. It was a 0-0 game until manager Yoshii didn't let closer Naoya Masuda pitch another inning. Former MLB pitcher Hirokazu Sawamura replaced him, but Sawamura struggled and allowed 3 runs. Pinch-hitter Tatsuru Yanagimachi hit a leadoff double, and Ukyo Shuto's single gave the Hawks the lead. Kawase then tripled and Yanagita collected another RBI with a single. Having a 3-0 lead, the Hawks' manager Fujimoto made the same fateful decision to use Tsumori instead of letting Osuna try to save the game. This decision was disastrous as Kakunaka and Ogino both singled, then Yudai Fujioka - who only had one homer in this season - crushed maybe the most important homer in his career off him. Otsu replaced Tsumori, but he couldn't stop the Marines. Oka hit another single, then Yasuda's walk-off double sent the Lotte to the final stage. Fujimoto was fired immediately 3 hours after the game ended.

Final Stage

vs.

Climax Series Final Stage (4-1): Orix Buffaloes (86-53-4, PL No.1 seed) over the Chiba Lotte Marines (70-68-5, PL No.2 seed)

Overview

The Orix Buffaloes won their third PL pennant in a row, and their ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto won another triple crown. They would try to beat the Marines to advance to the Nippon Series for the third consecutive year.

The Teams

• Managers: Buffaloes: Satoshi Nakajima | Marines: Masato Yoshii

Buffaloes

Marines

Umpires

• Kunio Kiuchi, Hideshi Honda, Takahiro Tsuchiyama, Katsumi Manabe, Koichi Nagai, Fumihiro Yoshimoto and Kazuaki Nako

Series results

Game	Score	Date	Pitchers	Time (ET)
1	Chiba Lotte Marines 5 Orix Buffaloes 8	October 18	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (0-0) Manabu Mima (0-0)	6:00 pm
2	Chiba Lotte Marines 6 Orix Buffaloes 5	October 19	C.C. Mercedes (0-0) Daiki Tajima (0-0)	6:00 pm
3	Chiba Lotte Marines 0 Orix Buffaloes 2	October 20	Hirokazu Sawamura (0-0) Kohei Azuma (0-0)	6:00 pm
4	Chiba Lotte Marines 2 Orix Buffaloes 3	October 21	Atsuki Taneichi (0-0) Hiroya Miyagi (0-0)	6:00 pm

Results

Game 1 @ Kyocera Dome

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Marines	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	5	11	0
Buffaloes	0	0	0	3	0	4	0	1	x	8	9	0
WP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0), LP: Toshiya Nakamura (0-1), SV: Yoshihisa Hirano (1)
Home Runs: None

• Attendance: 35,930

Against expectations, three-time PL triple crown winner Yamamoto struggled in the series opener. Ogino and Fujioka singled in the first two at-bats, and Polanco's double drove in 2 runs. The Marines didn't stop, as last series' hero Yasuda had an infield single, then Oka loaded the bases with a single. Koki Yamaguchi's single gave the Marines their 3rd run, then Yamamoto struck out Matsukawa Kou to escape the jam. Mima blanked Orix for 3 innings, but they still roared back in the 4th inning. Leandro Cedeno singled first, Marwin Gonzalez walked then Kotaro Kubayashi collected two RBI with a double. Yuma Mune then had a clutch single and tied the game. Yamamoto pitched 4 shutout innings after allowing the 3 runs, but Yamaguchi had a leadoff single again in the 6th inning. Matsukawa bunted, and Ogino took back the lead with a single. However, the Buffaloes tied it soon when Nakamura walked the first batter in the same inning. The series MVP winner Yutaro Sugimoto's double made the game a tie again. Nakamura was replaced by Yusuke Azuma after walking Gonzalez, but he couldn't escape the jam as Kubayashi's single gave Orix the lead again. The Buffaloes would never fall behind again in the game after Kenya Wakatsuki and Keita Nakagawa both collected a RBI to give them some insurance. Chiba Lotte didn't gave up, and they took back another run with Oka's single and Polanco's sacrifice fly. However, Orix got another run with Wakatsuki's double, and new meikyukai member Hirano saved it to gave Orix a 2-0 lead (they started one game up due to being the regular-season champs).

Game 2 @ Kyocera Dome

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Marines	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	2	6	5	0
Buffaloes	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	5	9	0
WP: Taiki Tojo (1-0), LP: Taisuke Yamaoka (0-1), SV: Naoya Masuda (1)
Home Runs: ORI - Leandro Cedeño (1)

• Attendance: 33,804

Daiki Tajima started for Orix in Game 2, but Ogino received a leadoff walk, Shingo Ishikawa's single sent him to third base and Polanco's grounder drove in another run. The Buffaloes answered back soon; Mune and Tomoya Mori both singled, then Leandro Cedeno's clutch single tied the game. Chiba Lotte's starter C.C. Mercedes continued to struggle as Kotaro Kubayashi and former PLCS MVP winner Yutaro Sugimoto both collected a hit, then Marwin Gonzalez gave the PL champion a 3-1 lead. After the first inning, Tajima kept the Marines quiet for 4 innings, but they finally had a chance as he suddenly lost his control in the 6th. Ishikawa and Polanco both walked, Oka's double drove in omne and Yasuda helped the Marines come back with a clutch single; he was out at second though. Mercedes was replaced by Takahiro Nishimura, and Keisuke Sawada was taken to the mound in order to hold the one-run lead. However, he plunked former PL MVP Mori, then Cedeno blasted a monster 2-run homer. Orix's former ace, Taisuke Yamaoka, was on the mound to close the door, but he walked veteran pinch-hitter Katsuya Kakunaka, then pinch-runner Koshiro Wada swiped second despite Yamaoka's best efforts. Yasuda saved the Marines again in the 9th when he hit another clutch double to drive in Wada. Kenta Chatani bunted, and Koki Yamaguchi's sacrifice fly gave the Marines the lead. Their closer Naoya Masuda walked Mori again, but he still saved this win for the Marines.

Game 3 @ Kyocera Dome

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Marines	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
Buffaloes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	8	0
WP: Yuki Udagawa (1-0), LP: Takahiro Nishimura (0-1), SV: Yoshihisa Hirano (2)
Home Runs: none

• Attendance: 35,943

The Chiba Lotte didn't have any starting pitchers ready for this game, so Hirokazu Sawamura was used as an opener in game 3 to duel with Orix's rookie Kohei Azuma. Sawamura and his bullpen teammates - Shunsuke Nakamori, Yuuki Kunyoshi and Koshiro Sakamoto perfectly did their job, shutting out Orix for 7 innings. Azuma also extended his solid performance (he just beat the team record for collected a win in 7 consecutive starts since his debut), as he pitched 5 shutout innings with 4 strikeouts. When Nishimura replaced Sakamoto in the 8th inning, the Buffaloes' lineup finally woke up. Sugimoto hit a leadoff double, but Nishimoto force the next two batters grounded out. He was one out from escaping the jam, but Kenya Wakatsuki's clutch double gave Orix the lead. This year's PL batting champion Yuma Tongu pinch-hit and drove another run, then closer Hirano saved the game.

Game 4 @ Kyocera Dome

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Marines	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	2	7	0
Buffaloes	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	x	3	9	0
WP: Hiroya Miyagi (1-0), LP: Atsuki Taneichi (0-1), SV: Yoshihisa Hirano (3)
Home Runs: ORI - Tomoya Mori (1); LOT - Kyota Fujiwara (1), Gregory Polanco (1)

• Attendance: 35,804

In the win-or-go-home game, Taneichi Atsuki was picked to start for the Marines. He was 2nd in strikeouts this season, but was injured late and was expected to missed the entire PLCS. Former batting title Mori crushed a 2-run shot off Atsuki in the first inning, but the Buffaloes didn't score in the next four innings. All-Star southpaw Hiroya Miyagi was the Buffaloes' starter, and he pitched 6 shutout innings with 4 strikeouts, and only gave up four hits. Mori doubled again in the 6th inning, and Takahiro Okada's hit expanded their lead. The Marines didn't give up, as Kyota Fujiwara blasted a solo shot off Soichiro Yamazaki in the 8th inning, and Polanco hit another homer, off Hirano in the 9th inning. However, that's not enough and Hirano collected his third save in this series to send the Buffaloes to the 2023 Nippon Series. They would met another Kansai team - the Hanshin Tigers.

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