The end of the NPB season in 2019 looks a lot like it did last year… and in 2017, 2015 and 2014 too.
They all finished with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks at the top of Japanese baseball.
Yurisbel Gracial hit a three-run home run, veteran pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada was in near-vintage form for five innings and the Hawks beat the Yomiuri Giants 4-3 in Game 4 of the Japan Series to secure their third straight title with a four-game sweep.
SoftBank closer Yuito Mori walked Yoshiyuki Kamei with two outs in the ninth before striking out likely Central League MVP Hayato Sakamoto, in a tense seven-pitch at-bat, to send the Hawks racing onto the field to celebrate winning their fifth title in six seasons. The Hawks are the first team to three-peat since the 1990-92 Seibu Lions.
The Hawks are now 6-0 in the Japan Series since 2011 with wins over all six Central League clubs in that span.
SoftBank missed out on winning the Pacific League pennant but surged in the postseason. After losing the opening game of the PL Climax Series, the Hawks reeled off 10 straight victories, including going 8-0 on the field against the PL champion Seibu Lions and the CL champion Giants.
Gracial finished the series with three home runs and six RBIs, was 6-for-16 at the plate and was named the Japan Series MVP. The Cuban outfielder gave the Hawks the lead with a two-run home run in the second inning of Game 1 and tied Game 3 with a solo shot.
He broke a scoreless tie in the fourth on Wednesday with his three-run shot to left off Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano to get the Hawks pointed toward another title.
The blast put Wada in line for his first Japan Series victory since earning the win in Game 7 of the 2003 Series as a rookie. The 38-year-old lefty stuck out six — four on called third strikes — in five scoreless innings.
Yomiuri trailed for most of the night but didn’t go down without a fight. Kazuma Okamoto pulled the Kyojin within a run with a two-run homer in the sixth that made the score 3-2. After SoftBank scored another run in the seventh, Yoshihiro Maru made it 4-3 with an RBI double off the wall in left in the bottom of the seventh.
Sugano, who had suffered from a back injury and was pitching for the first time since Sept. 15, put up a solid effort in defeat. He pitched 6⅓ innings and allowed four runs — three earned.
The sweep was the first in the Japan Series since 2005, when the Chiba Lotte Marines won four straight against the Hanshin Tigers.
Source : Baseball – The Japan Times
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