The home team has lost all five games in the 2024 Japan Series.
Yokohama DeNA BayStars starting pitcher Andre Jackson and captain Shugo Maki played pivotal roles in keeping this statistical trend alive in Game 5 on Thursday night, October 31 at Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka.
Jackson pitched seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball and Maki slugged a three-run home run in the fourth inning against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. The BayStars won their third consecutive game in Fukuoka, defeating the Hawks 7-0 and taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Up next: The BayStars return home to play Game 6 and, if necessary, Game 7 at Yokohama Stadium on Saturday and Sunday, November 2 and 3.
With one more victory, the BayStars would capture their first Japan Series title since 1998, when Hiroshi Gondo managed the club. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch for Game 1 of this championship series on October 26.
Looking ahead to Saturday's game, which is scheduled to start at 6:30 PM, BayStars manager Daisuke Miura, who has guided the club since 2021, said the team and its fans will be unified in pursuit of championship glory.
"We will join forces with our fans and give it our all to fight with all our might," Miura said, according to Nikkan Sports.
How the BayStars Took Control in Game 5
Yokohama pulled ahead 1-0 in the third inning on Yoshitomo Tsutsugo's two-out RBI single to center off Hawks starter Tomohisa Ohzeki, scoring Maki, who led off the inning with a hit.
In the fourth, the BayStars greeted reliever Jun Maeda, who had just taken over the pitching duties, with back-to-back singles by Masayuki Kuwahara, who was 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs in the BayStars' 5-0 victory in Game 4 on Wednesday, and Kouki Kajiwara to open the inning.
Maki followed by smacking a three-run shot over the left-field wall on Maeda's 1-2 offering.
The BayStars captain, who made a stellar diving catch of a hard-hit liner off the bat of Hawks slugger Hotaka Yamakawa in the second inning, approached his key at-bat with laser-sharp focus. Giving his team a big boost was the objective.
"I didn't think about anything else and just tried to hit it hard,” Maki was quoted as saying by Nikkan Sports.
Maeda, 24, only appeared in one regular-season game.
Yokohama tacked on three more runs in the ninth to make it a rout.
Kajiwara's two-out, two-run double to left off Hikaru Kimura, the Hawks' seventh pitcher of the night, was the big hit of the inning, when the BayStars sent eight batters to the plate.
A Stark Contrast in Offensive Production
In Game 5, the BayStars, who finished with 13 hits, had four players with two apiece: Kajiwara, Maki, Tsutsugo and Yasutaka Tobashira, the starting catcher.
Conversely, the Hawks, who led the Pacific League with a .259 batting average in the regular season, had only four hits (all singles). Kenta Imamiya and Taisei Makihara both got hits in the second, Ukyo Shuto in the third and Yuki Yanagita in the eighth.
After being held to one run in their three Japan Series home games, SoftBank manager Hiroki Kokubo commented on the team's disappointing play in Fukuoka.
“It's a pity that we couldn't show a win in the last three home games in a row after working hard all year," Kokubo said, according to Daily Sports.
He added, "It's no use looking back on the losses; we can no longer lose in the Japan Series when we can lose three [games]. The crowd doesn't get excited if you don't score runs. I'm sorry about that."
BayStars' Jackson Earns His 1st Japan Series Win
Jackson, a former MLB pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2021-22) and Pittsburgh Pirates (2023), struck out eight batters in his seven innings on the mound. He walked two.
The 28-year-old right-hander was the losing pitcher in Game 1. In the Hawks' 5-3 triumph, Jackson allowed two runs and three hits in 4⅔ innings. He also fanned nine.
Pitching for the second time in the Japan Series, Jackson issued two base on balls and hit a batter. He also struck out eight in a 108-pitch outing.
Setup man Hiromu Ise, who had 18 holds during the regular season, worked a scoreless eighth and Hayate Nakagawa pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.
Summing up his pitching performance, Jackson said, "Everything was really good," Jiji Press reported.
The news agency also reported that Jackson modified his normal pre-game routine before Thursday's showdown with the Hawks.
Instead of only listening to classical music before the game, which he does to relax, "today I also listened to rock music to get into the swing of things," Jackson was quoted as saying.
Jackson had an 8-7 record and a 2.90 ERA in 25 games for the BayStars in his first NPB season.
By the Numbers
Winners of six of the last 10 Japan Series titles, the Hawks had an NPB-best 91-49-3 record in the regular season. The BayStars finished with a 71-69-3 record.
But the underdog BayStars gave their rabid supporters lots to cheer about with victories in Games 3, 4 and 5 in Fukuoka.
Miura acknowledged the fans in his postgame remarks.
"Thank you very much for the many fans cheering us on today," he said, according to Nikkan Sports. "Please give us your hot, hot cheers again in Yokohama."
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Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.
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