SoftBank Hawks win Japan Series for second straight year — The Japan Times

In Japan, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks baseball club defeated the Yokohama DeNA BayStars 4-2 in the fourth game of the Japan Series in Fukuoka, completing a 4-0 sweep of the final series. The team won the Japan Series title for the second consecutive year, The Japan Times reports.

Comeback after conceding two runs

The BayStars took the lead in the first inning on Keita Sano's two-run home run. In the fourth inning, Yudai Yamamoto tied the score with a two-run triple, and Yuki Yanagita put the Hawks ahead with an RBI single. In the sixth inning, Yamamoto added another run with a sacrifice fly.

Closer Kazuki Sugiyama pitched the ninth inning and recorded his third save of the series. Hawks manager Hiroki Kokubo said the team began the season aiming to win two consecutive Japan Series championships, after first winning the Pacific League for the third straight time.

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Undefeated playoffs and franchise titles

During the regular season, SoftBank won the Pacific League for the third consecutive year, finishing 11.5 games ahead of its nearest rival. In the playoffs, the club won all seven games played on the field. Including an automatic two-win advantage in the final stage of the Climax Series, the team's official postseason record was 9-0.

The first three Japan Series games went into extra innings, a first in the history of the final. Tomoya Masaki was named the series MVP after recording seven hits in 16 at-bats and hitting two solo home runs. The title was the Hawks' 13th in franchise history, tying them with the Seibu Lions for the second-most, while the Yomiuri Giants hold the record with 22 titles.