The 2019 Central League Climax Series (CLCS) was a postseason playoff consisting of two consecutive series that determined which of the three teams who finished in the top three during the 2019 regular season would represent the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently cons ...

in the

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

. The First Stage was a best-of-three series played between the second-place hosts

Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current ...

and the third-place

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railway ...

. The series was played between October 5 to 7. The Tigers defeated the Baystars 2–1 and advanced to the Final Stage to face the pennant-winning

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

. The Final Stage was a best-of-six series hosted by the Giants. Having won the regular season, Yomiuri was awarded a one-win advantage over the Tigers. The series was played between October 9 to 13. Yomiuri defeated Hanshin 4–1 in four games to advance to the 2019 Japan Series, where they competed against the 2019 Pacific League Climax Series winner, the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka ...

First Stage

The

Yokohama DeNA Baystars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current ...

clinched second place in the Central League on September 24 and thus secured a spot as the home team in the First Stage of the Climax Series. It was their highest finish in the standings since winning the CL pennant in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. While they had hosted Japan Series games in

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, this was the first time in team history that their home field,

Yokohama Stadium is a baseball stadium in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It opened in 1978 and has a capacity of 34,046 people. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. The stadium features dirt around the bases ...

, hosted a Climax Series. The BayStars finished the season 43-27-1 at Yokohama Stadium, the most wins by any CL team in its home park. The

, however, also had a winning record in Yokohama, going 8–4. The Tigers clinched third place in the Central League on September 30, the last game of the regular season. They won the last six games of the season to help pass the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Mat ...

by half a game and secure the third and final postseason position. Hanshin was 16–8–1 against the Baystars during the regular season and had won six of their last seven meetings.

Series summary

Game 1

After the Tigers didn't score against BayStars'

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pitc ...

Kenta Ishida in the first inning, DeNA quickly took the lead in the bottom half of the inning. After the first two batters reached base, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo hit a three-run

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

off of Tiger's starter Yuki Nishi. Nishi was eventually taken out of the game that same inning after allowing five straight hits, not recording an out, and a ball hit by Toshiro Miyazaki struck him in the leg. The BayStars had another high scoring inning in the fifth when Tsutsugo hit an

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

single, followed by an RBI single by José López and a two-run hit by

Tatsuhiro Shibata is a professional Japanese baseball player. He plays infielder for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japan, Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The ...

. The Tigers had been held to four hits resulting in one fourth-inning RBI by

Ryutaro Umeno is a Nippon Professional Baseball catcher for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Central League. Since joining the Tigers, he was given the nickname "Ume-chan", and his accurate throws and strong throwing arm earned his throw the nickname "Ume-chan ba ...

through six innings by starters Ishida and

Shota Imanaga Shota may refer to: * Shota (dance), a traditional dance from Kosovo * Shota (Georgian given name), a Georgian given name * Shōta, a Japanese given name * Shota (wrestler), Japanese professional wrestler * Shotacon , abbreviated from , is, in ...

, who made an appearance as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...

. However, they mounted a comeback starting in the seventh inning against Baystars reliever Edison Barrios when

Shun Takayama is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Early baseball career Born in Nagano prefecture, Shun's family used to move from one prefecture to another, along with the transf ...

hit a double and

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, American ...

Seiya Kinami is a professional Japanese baseball infielder for the Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishin ...

drove him in with a single. Barrios was then replaced with

Edwin Escobar Edwin José Escobar (born April 22, 1992) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diam ...

who subsequently allowed

Koji Chikamoto Koji, Kōji, Kohji or Kouji may refer to: * Kōji (given name), a masculine Japanese given name * Kōji (Heian period) (康治), Japanese era, 1142–1144 * Kōji (Muromachi period) (弘治), Japanese era, 1555–1558 * Koji orange, a Japanese cit ...

to reach via a single. Fumiya Hojo then hit a three-run home run to bring the Tigers within two runs of the Baystars. The scoring continued for the Tigers in the top of the eight inning. Kinami hit another RBI single followed by a single by Chikamoto. With two players on base, the Baystars put in reliever Yuki Kuniyoshi. Hojo then hit a triple to give the Tigers the lead.

Suguru Iwazaki is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Central League. Iwazaki is a 6-foot tall left-handed pitcher, and wears jersey No. 67. His surname is often misread as "Iwasaki" rather than "Iwazaki". Early b ...

pitched a scoreless eighth and veteran Kyuji Fujikawa earned the save in the ninth to secure a Tiger's win.

Game 2

In Game 2, the Baystars once again took the lead in the first, this time scoring two-run on a home run by López off of Tiger's starter

Koyo Aoyagi Koyo may refer to: * Kōyō, a masculine Japanese given name * Koyo Electronics Corporation Limited, a Japanese electronics corporation * Koyo language (disambiguation) * Koyō, a French music producer * Koyo (band), an American punk rock band ...

. They added a run to their lead in the third inning when Tsutsugo hit a home run, his second of the series. The Tigers were able to come back and tie the game starting in the fifth inning. Hojo hit an RBI double and moved to third base on a throwing

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistic ...

on the same play. That DeNA error proved costly when

Kosuke Fukudome is a retired Japanese professional baseball outfielder. He previously played in Major League Baseball from 2008 to 2012, primarily with the Chicago Cubs and had a long spanning career in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with the Chunichi D ...

singled, allowing Hojo to score. In the sixth,

Kento Itohara is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Early Baseball Career Born and raised in Unnan City, Kento started playing ball in 2nd grade. In his 1st year in Shimane Kaisei Hig ...

singled, moved to second base on a

sacrifice bunt In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, an ...

, then advanced to third on a

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third st ...

. Hiroki Uemoto tied the game with a single to drive in Itohara. The Baystars responded in the bottom of the same inning by taking the lead on a Kazuki Kamizato RBI single. DeNA relief pitchers kept the Tigers scoreless until their closer

Yasuaki Yamasaki is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Career Yamasaki was drafted with the first pick by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in 2014 Nippon Professional Baseball draft. He has ...

, who also pitched in the eighth inning, blew the save in the ninth by allowing a Fukudome solo home run to tie the game. In the bottom of the ninth, Miyazaki singled off of Baystars reliever Iwazaki. Yokohama manager Alex Ramírez then put left-handed batter Tomo Otosaka in as a pinch hitter to face the left-handed Iwazaki. Otosaka hit a two-run sayonara home run to win the game.

Game 3

A light rain fell throughout Game 3, the series finale. Both the Tigers and the Baystars were scoreless through the first five innings. Hanshin plated the game's first run in the sixth inning. After Shun Takayama hit a double off of pitcher Yuki Kuniyoshi, Ryutaro Umeno laid down a bunt to move him to third base. Takayama then scored on a wild pitch from Kuniyoshi. Yokohama tied the game similarly in the seventh inning when they loaded the bases and then scored on a throwing error by third baseman Fumiya Hojo. The Tigers broke the tie in the eight inning. Edwin Escobar hit Takayama with a pitch, who was then replayed by

Kai Ueda is a Japanese professional baseball infielder, playing for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Early baseball career Ueda started playing baseball in 2nd grade for the Kohnan Boys Baseball Club, where he alternated betwee ...

on first base. Ueda went on to steal second base then move to third on a wild pitch by Escobar. Umeno then hit a

sacrifice fly In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair ...

to center field that allowed Ueda to score what would ultimately be the series winning run. Kyuji Fujikawa then came in to pitch two scoreless innings to close out the game and earn the save.

Final Stage

The

clinched the Central League pennant on September 21 and thus secured a spot as the home team in the Final Stage of the Climax Series. It was the team's 37th league title and their first since the 2014 season. This was the first season of

Tatsunori Hara is a Japanese former professional baseball player, and the current manager of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team in Nippon Professional Baseball. Career Hara played for the Giants during his professional baseball career from to . He won the Cen ...

's third stint as the Giant's manager. Prior to this season, Hara had led the team to win seven CL pennants and three Japan Series titles. This was the first CL title in the Reiwa Era. The Giants were also the first team to win the CL title of the

Heisei Era The is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Emeritus Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito ...

in 1989. A week before the postseason began, longtime Yomiuri catcher

Shinnosuke Abe is a Japanese former professional baseball player who spent his entire 19-year career with Nippon Professional Baseball's Yomiuri Giants, serving as the team's captain from 2007 to 2014. He has twice been named the MVP of the Nippon Professional ...

announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season after 19 years with the Giants. He is regarded to be one of the greatest catchers in NPB history. Yomiuri was 15–10 against the Hanshin Tigers during the regular season.

Series summary

:* The Central League regular season champion is given a one-game advantage in the Final Stage. :† This game was originally scheduled to be played on Saturday, October 12, but was postponed one day due to

Typhoon Hagibis Typhoon Hagibis, known in Japan as Typhoon No.19 or , was a large and costly tropical cyclone that caused widespread destruction in Japan. The thirty-eighth depression, ninth typhoon, and third super typhoon of the 2019 Pacific typhoon season, ...

Game 1

In Game 1, the Giants scored quickly against Tigers starter Atsushi Mochizuki, who only lasted two innings. With two outs in the first inning, Yoshihiro Maru and

Kazuma Okamoto is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Career He has been selected as an all-star twice, and was named the Central League Climax Series MVP in 2019. In 2020, he le ...

hit back-to-back solo home runs to give Yomiuri a two-run lead. The scoring continued for the Giants the next inning when

Yoshiyuki Kamei was a Japanese politician and member of the House of Representatives of Japan representing Kanagawa Prefecture. Biography Yoshiyuki Kamei was born on 30 April 1936. He graduated from Keio University in 1962. He was Minister of Agricult ...

hit an RBI double and

Hayato Sakamoto is a Japanese professional baseball shortstop with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). In , Sakamoto became the first player in Giants franchise history to start a season opener while under the age of 20 since Hide ...

hit a two-run single. The five runs would prove to be all that was needed to win the game. Giants starting pitcher Shun Yamaguchi pitched into the eighth inning. The only run allowed by Yamaguchi came in the fourth inning. With two outs, he allowed two singles and then walked a batter. A run then scored on a wild pitch. Hanshin attempted a comeback in the ninth inning. With one out, Giants closer Rubby De La Rosa gave up two singles to Kento Itohara and Shun Takayama. Ryutaro Umeno then drew a two-out walk to load the bases. De La Rosa walked the next batter, Fumiya Hojo, to give the Tigers another run. With the bases still loaded, reliever Kazuto Taguchi entered the game to retire the final batter, preserve the win, and record the save.

Game 2

In Game 2, the starting pitchers for the Giants and the Tigers were

Cristopher Mercedes Cristopher Crisostomo Mercedes (born March 8, 1994), also known as C. C. Mercedes, is a Dominican professional baseball starting pitcher for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He was signed by the Tampa Bay Rays as ...

and Haruto Takahashi, respectively. Yomiuri started the game's scoring early, earning a run on a double play in the first inning. Takahashi only lasted two innings before being removed from the game. Alex Guerrero added to the Giants' lead in the fourth inning with a two-run home run off of Takahashi's replacement,

Onelki García Onelki García (born August 2, 1989) is a Cuban professional baseball pitcher for the Charros de Jalisco of the Mexican League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kansas City Royals, and ...

. In the fifth inning, Maru drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Okamoto hit an RBI-single, making it 5–0. Akihiro Wakabayashi closed out the scoring with a run-scoring hit in the eighth inning. For the Giants, Mercedes pitched seven innings allowing the Tigers no runs on only three hits.

Game 3

Game 4

References

{{Yomiuri Giants Climax Series Central League Climax Series