The 2022 Japan Series (known as the ''

SMBC SMBC may refer to: Companies and organizations * SMBC Aviation Capital, an aircraft leasing company associated with the bank * Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, a bank based in Japan * Sydney Missionary and Bible College Government and politics ...

Nippon Series 2022'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

's season. The 73rd edition of the

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning cl ...

, it was a

best-of-seven playoff There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

between the winning teams of the

Pacific League The , or , or the , due to sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the a ...

and

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, 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 i ...

Climax Series The is the current annual playoff system implemented by Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). It determines which team from the Central League (CL) and from the Pacific League (PL) will advance to compete for the championship in the Japan ...

. The series began on October 22 and ended on October 30. The

Tokyo Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams in Tokyo, the other being the Yomiuri G ...

advanced to the Japan Series from the

2022 Central League Climax Series The 2022 Central League Climax Series (CLCS) was a set of two consecutive playoff series in Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning s ...

. They faced the

Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture ...

, winners of the

2022 Pacific League Climax Series The 2022 Pacific League Climax Series (PLCS) was a set of two consecutive playoff series in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). The first stage began on October 8 and the final stage concluded on October 15. The first stage was a best-of-three ser ...

. This matchup was a rematch of the previous year's Japan Series, when Yakult won in six games. In the 2022 series, Yakult won Games 1 and 3, while Game 2 ended in a twelve-inning tie. Orix then won the next four games to win the series, taking home the first Japan Series under the Buffaloes moniker in league history and Orix's first since 1996, when they were the Orix BlueWave.

Yutaro Sugimoto , nicknamed " Raoh", is a professional Japanese baseball player. He plays outfielder for the Orix Buffaloes. Sugimoto won the Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award for the 2022 Japan Series. His nickname is derived from the fact he is a fan o ...

won the

Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award The is given to the player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the Japan Series, which is the final round of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) postseason. The award was first presented in 1950. The series follows a ...

Series overview

The

finished the regular season in first place of the

, their second straight pennant and 14th overall, after a tiebreaker with 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. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai t ...

; the Buffaloes finished with 15 wins head to head against the Hawks who finished with 10. The Buffaloes automatically advanced to the final stage of the Climax Series. They faced the Hawks and defeated them 4–1 in four games (as Orix had a one game advantage for finishing in first place). The

finished the regular season in first place in the

to win their second straight pennant, and their ninth overall. They advanced directly to the final stage of the Climax Series, where they defeated the

Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium. The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...

in three games (with the one game advantage for finishing in first place). The Buffaloes and Swallows faced each other in the

2021 Japan Series The 2021 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2021'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's 2021 Nippon Professional Baseball season, 2021 season. The 72nd edition of the Japan Series, it ...

, with the Swallows winning in six games. It was Orix's first appearance in the championship round since they won the 1996 Japan Series. Many key players from the 2021 series returned to the 2022 series, including Swallows closer

Scott McGough Scott Thomas McGough (born October 31, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Athletics organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Miami Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks, and in Nippon Profess ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

José Osuna and Buffaloes

and

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Taisuke Yamaoka is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). International career Yamaoka represented the Japan national baseball team in the 2019 exhibition games against Mexico and 2019 WBSC Pre ...

. Also, both of the reigning

Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award The is an annual Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) award given to two outstanding players, one each for the Central League (CL) and Pacific League (PL). Each league's award is voted on by national baseball writers. Each voter selects three pla ...

winners appeared in the series:

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Orix Buffaloes, where he became one of the most decorated pitchers in leag ...

of the Buffaloes was the most valuable player of the Pacific League in 2021, while

Munetaka Murakami is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Amateur career Munetaka started playing baseball at five years of age. He entered Kyushū Gakuin Integrated High School where he ...

, who won the Triple Crown in 2022, won the 2021 Central League's most valuable player award. Yamamoto also won the Eiji Sawamura Award, given to the best pitcher in

, in 2021 and 2022.

Summary

Game 1

Yasuhiro Ogawa started Game 1 for Yakult while

started for Orix. In the bottom of the first inning, José Osuna recorded two

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBIs) for the Swallows on a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

that scored Yasutaka Shiomi and

. Orix tied the score in the second inning with an RBI

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by Kotaro Kurebayashi and a

bases loaded This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See #count, coun ...

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

Shuhei Fukuda Shuhei Fukuda (Japanese:福田秀平, born February 10, 1989) is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Kufu HAYATE Ventures Shizuoka of the Western League. He previously played for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and the Chiba Lotte Mar ...

, but Shiomi broke the tie with a home run in the third inning and Osuna hit a home run in the fourth inning. Yamamoto left the game in the fifth inning due to muscle cramp, after allowing four runs. Takahiro Okada had an RBI single for the Buffaloes in the top of the eighth inning, but Yakult scored a run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Game 2

Sachiya Yamasaki, Orix's starting pitcher for Game 2, recorded an RBI single off of Cy Sneed, Yakult's starting pitcher, in the third inning. The Buffaloes added a second run in the inning on an

error An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

Domingo Santana Domingo Alberto Santana (born August 5, 1992) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, M ...

, Yakult's

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

hit an RBI infield single for Orix in the fifth inning to increase the lead to 3–0. Pinch hitting for the Swallows in the bottom of the ninth inning, Sōma Uchiyama hit a three-run home run off of Shota Abe, after a double by

Takeshi Miyamoto is a member of the Japanese Communist Party who served in the House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representati ...

and a walk issued to Yasutaka Shiomi, to tie the game. Neither team scored during

extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

, and the game ended in a tie after the 12th inning. It was the first tied Japan Series game since Game 1 of the

2018 Japan Series The 2018 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2018'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2018 Nippon Professional Baseball season, 2018 season. The 69th edition of the Japan Ser ...

Game 3

For Game 3, the series shifted to Orix's home stadium, the

Kyocera Dome Osaka The (official name: ) is a baseball stadium located in Osaka, Osaka, Japan. Opened in 1997, the stadium was the home field of the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. In 2005, the stadium became one of the homes of the Orix Buffaloes, a result of the merg ...

. The game was scoreless into the top of the fifth inning, when Tetsuto Yamada hit a three-run home run for the Swallows off of Orix's starting pitcher, Hiroya Miyagi. Keiji Takahashi started for Yakult and threw six innings without allowing a run, only permitting three

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

and two walks against seven

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s. Yakult added their fourth run when their

cleanup hitter In baseball, a cleanup hitter is the fourth hitter in the batting order. The cleanup hitter is traditionally the team's most powerful hitter. His job is to "clean up the bases", that is, drive in base runners. Theory The thinking behind the ...

, drew a walk with the bases loaded. Murakami drove in two runs in the ninth inning on his second double of the game, and Osuna drove Murakami home with an RBI single to extend the lead to 7–0. Orix scored one run in the bottom of the ninth inning, but lost 7–1.

Game 4

started Game 4 for Orix while Masanori Ishikawa started for Yakult. Orix's Keita Nakagawa was

hit by a pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provide ...

in the third inning and

scored the run with an RBI single. Yamaoka pitched innings, allowing a

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

to Yakult in the fifth inning, but

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Yuki Udagawa prevented the runner from scoring with two strikeouts. Orix's pitchers threw a combined

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

, allowing six hits to the Swallows.

Game 5

Orix started Daiki Tajima in Game 5 while Yakult started Hikaru Yamashita. Yakult took the lead in the top of the first inning on a single by

Norichika Aoki is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, and New York Mets, and in ...

and an RBI single by José Osuna. In the second inning,

hit a solo home run for Yakult off of Tajima. The Buffaloes tied the game in the fourth inning with four hits off of Yamashita, including RBIs by Kotaro Kurebayashi and Kenya Wakatsuki. With the score tied at two,

Masataka Yoshida Masataka Yoshida (吉田正尚 ''Yoshida Masataka'', born July 15, 1993) nicknamed Macho Man, is a Japanese people, Japanese professional baseball designated hitter and left fielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He star ...

hit a solo home run for Orix off of Yamashita in the bottom of the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth inning, the Swallows retook the lead with an RBI double by Aoki. Entering the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 4–3, Orix tied the game on a walk and an infield single, followed by a throwing error by

that allowed the tying run to score. Yoshida hit a

walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will not have an opp ...

off of McGough to end the game.

Game 6

Sachiya Yamasaki started Game 6 for Orix, while Yasuhiro Ogawa started for Yakult. Yamasaki pitched five shutout innings. The game remained scoreless until the top of the sixth inning, when Ryo Ota hit a single, was advanced to second base on a

sacrifice hit 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, a ...

, and scored on an RBI single by

. Orix scored two more runs in the ninth inning following a throwing error by

. Yakult led off the game with a hit in the first inning, but Yamasaki and four

s ( Yuki Udagawa,

Yoshihisa Hirano is a Japanese composer and arranger. He is best known for composing the scores for anime series, such as ''Death Note'', '' Hunter × Hunter (2011)'', and '' Edens Zero''. He has also made the orchestration for video games, mostly in the Final ...

, Soichiro Yamazaki, and Jacob Waguespack) combined to shut out Yakult, only allowing the one hit.

Game 7

In Game 7, Hiroya Miyagi started for Orix and Cy Sneed started for Yakult. Ryo Ota led off the game for Orix with a solo

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

. In the top of the fifth inning, Orix's Torai Fushimi singled, followed by

bunt Bunt may refer to: People * Darrell Bunt (1902–1977), Royal Navy chaplain * Dick Bunt (1929–2021), American basketball player * Raymond Bunt (born 1944), Pennsylvania politician * Bunt Stephens (John L. Stephens, 1889–1951), or Uncle Bunt ...

singles by Miyagi and Ota. Yakult's first baseman José Osuna turned a

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

, but a walk loaded the bases, a hit by pitch scored a run, and then a

line drive In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fou ...

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

Yasutaka Shiomi was misplayed for an

that allowed three runs to score. Pitching on short rest, Miyagi allowed three hits and one walk over five innings. Yakult scored four runs in the eighth inning, including a three-run home run by Osuna, but Motoki Higa was able to escape the inning for Orix with a 5–4 lead. Orix held on to win the game and the series, as Jacob Waguespack earned his third save of the series. Sugimoto won the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Japan Series, 2022 2022 Nippon Professional Baseball season Japan Series October 2022 sports events in Japan Tokyo Yakult Swallows postseason Orix Buffaloes postseason