One of the great things about postseason baseball is the chance for unsung heroes to come out of nowhere to help their teams to glory. For example, Yudai Fujioka, a light-hitting 30-year-old shortstop, hit only one home run in 380 plate appearances in the regular season for the Chiba Lotte Marines.
On Monday, October 16, Fujioka hit the biggest home run of his career to lead the Marines to a thrilling 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and into the final stage of the Pacific League Climax Series.
With the score tied 0-0 after nine innings, the game went to extras at Zozo Marine Stadium. The winner would advance to play the Orix Buffaloes in the second stage while the loser would go home.
To the shock of the sold-out crowd, SoftBank pushed the second-place Marines to the brink of elimination by taking a 3-0 lead in the top of the 10th on three consecutive RBI hits.
Erasing a three-run deficit seemed like a gargantuan task against a team that has plenty of postseason experience over the years.
Yudai Fujioka Comes Through in the Clutch
Having already used their closer Roberto Osuna in the ninth, the Hawks brought in 25-year-old relief pitcher Yuki Tsumori, who was 4-4 with 22 holds in the regular season.
Tsumori quickly got into trouble giving up two base hits. That brought up Fujioka, who drilled a Tsumori offering deep into the right field stands, touching off a wild celebration at Zozo Marine Stadium.
"Two of my teammates got on base for me in that situation, and I was ready to swing the bat aggressively," Fujioka said, according to Kyodo News. "We'll do our best to come back and play here [for the Japan Series]."
Fujioka was mobbed by his teammates while Tsumori was inconsolable and in tears. Needless to say, he couldn't continue.
SoftBank manager Hiroshi Fujimoto then brought in rookie Ryosuke Otsu, who had a 2-0 record with 13 holds during the regular season.
Otsu managed to get two outs but then surrendered a single to Hiromi Oka. Hisanori Yasuda promptly hit a walk-off double that scored the speedy Oka all the way from first on a close play at the plate.
Once again, the SoftBank pitcher was in shock while the Lotte players and their die-hard fans celebrated like never before.
The following day, Fujimoto announced he would not be back next year as manager after two seasons at the helm.
Both Starters Had Solid Outings
Long before all the late dramatics, the game's two left-handed starters set the tone in a tight contest. Lotte's Kazuya Ojima pitched 6⅓ innings while SoftBank's 42-year-old veteran Tsuyoshi Wada went five innings.
All in all, it was an incredible game.
A Look Ahead
The Marines will meet the Buffaloes in the PL final stage, which begins on Wednesday with all six games at Orix's home park, Kyocera Dome in Osaka.
Lotte should have star pitcher Roki Sasaki available.
The 21-year-old Sasaki struck out four while retiring all batters he faced on 41 pitches in three innings to help boost the Marines to an 8-2 win over the Hawks in the first game of the first-stage series on October 14.
The Central League's second-stage series, between the Hiroshima Carp and Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium also gets underway on Wednesday.
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Author: Jim Armstrong
The author is a longtime journalist who has covered sports in Japan for over 25 years. You can find his articles on SportsLook.
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