Yuma Mune Breaks Out of Japan Series Slump to Lead Orix Past Hanshin in Game 3

Yuma Mune broke out of a slump and Kohei Azuma went five strong innings as the Orix Buffaloes beat the Hanshin Tigers 5-4 on Tuesday, October 31 to take a 2-1 lead after three games of the all-Kansai Japan Series.

Mune had gone hitless in the first two games at Kyocera Dome. But he came up big in Game 3 at Koshien Stadium to give the defending champion Buffaloes the upper hand in the best-of-seven series.

Hanshin took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Yusuke Oyama scored from third on an attempted double play where Seiya Kinami beat out the throw to first.

Buffaloes Tie It in the Fourth, Pull Ahead in the Fifth 

Yuma Tongu hit a solo shot into the center-field stands in the fourth to tie the game and Orix took a 2-1 lead in the fifth when Kotaro Kurebayashi scored from third on an infield grounder by Taishi Hirooka.

Later in the fifth, with runners on first and second and two outs, Mune worked the count full. He then drilled a fastball from Hanshin starter Masashi Ito into the gap in right-center for a double.

Both runners scored to give Orix a 4-1 lead.

"It was a tough at-bat but I just tried to be patient," Mune said. "I am happy to be able to contribute."

"Our batters did a great job of stringing together hits in that inning," Orix manager Satoshi Nakajima said.

Both Starting Pitchers Left the Game Early

Buffaloes starter Azuma, who got the win, did a superb job of keeping the Hanshin hitters off balance and left the game after striking out four and giving up one run on four hits and walking one batter over five innings.

Hanshin starter Ito took the loss after giving up four runs on five hits over five innings.

Tigers Chip Away at the Lead

Kenya Wakatsuki had a sac fly in the top of the sixth to give the visitors what looked like a comfortable 5-1 lead.

But the Central League champions weren't about to go quietly in front of a raucous crowd of 40,994 at Koshien.

Seishiro Sakamoto and Seiya Kinami had back-to-back base hits off Orix reliever Taisuke Yamaoka to open the seventh. 

Yamaoka then walked Koji Chikamoto to load the bases for Takumu Nakano, who hit a grounder that scored the runner from third to make it 5-2. 

That set the table for Hanshin rookie Shota Morishita, who connected for a clutch single to right that scored two more runs and cut the lead to 5-4 as Koshien erupted.

A Pivotal Defensive Play by Mune

Orix reliever Yuki Udagawa came in to put out the fire and got the third out in the seventh on Yusuke Oyama's sharply hit grounder to Mune, who somehow managed to snare it and throw the ball to first.

"I knew I had to make that play," Mune said.

He added, "I was a hard-hit ball and I was prepared to get my body in front of it."

Tigers Threaten in the Ninth

Yoshihisa Hirano, who had 29 saves during the regular season, worked a nervous ninth for the save in which he walked pinch hitter Fumihito Haraguchi and Morishita.

The former major leaguer got Chikamoto to ground out, then struck out Nakano before finally striking out Oyama on a forkball down in the dirt.

"It was an electrifying game," Nakajima said before adding, "It was an away game unlike any we've played in before but we had our fans here and that was a big help."

The best-of-seven championship is the first all-Kansai Japan Series in 59 years. Game 4 is on Wednesday, November 1.

RELATED:

• Buffaloes Whip Tigers in Game 2 of the Japan Series
• Tigers Rough Up Buffaloes Ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto to Take Game 1 of the Japan Series
• In an All-Kansai Japan Series, Hanshin's Offense Faces a Stiff Test vs Orix's Superb Pitching

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.