◆2025 Persol Climax Series Pacific Final Stage Game 5 Softbank 1-7 Nippon-Ham (19th, Mizuho PayPay Dome)
Nippon-Ham won a comfortable victory over Softbank. They started the season with back-to-back losses, putting them on the brink of losing three games, including the advantage they had. But with three straight wins, they're now one step closer to advancing to the Japan Series against Hanshin Tigers. Starting pitcher Ruei-Yang Gu Lin (25), returning from a bout of upper-body condition, pitched a powerful 4 2/3 innings, runs only two hit no strike out, and striking out six. It's been a season plagued by injuries, but he pulled off a remarkable performance at the end.
I didn't hesitate to give it away. Nippon-Ham 's starter, Kobayashi, swung his right arm to Softbank 's No. 4 Yanagida. In the first inning, with two outs and third base, he was stuck with a foul and full count the ninth pitch. When he finished it off with a swing struck out at the fastest speed of the day at 157 km/h, he clenched his fists. "Regardless of how many inning I threw it, I worked hard with the goal of closer the hitter in front of me and not runs." Riding the wave over the biggest pinch, 4 2/3 innings 2 hit runs 6 strike out. If they lose, it was the final match, and they did not let the champion take the lead.
After being out with a left internal oblique abdominal muscle injury in June, he returned to the lineup in relief on September 18 Softbank against Mizuho Peipay. However, he was losing pitcher out for 2 runs in the same game, including a tie-breaking shot by Kurihara, and was again removed on the 28th due to upper body condition. 1 inning pitched in a red-and-white game (ESCON) on the 8th, but he returned in the big game. regular season He was the first starter since June 3 Hanshin Tigers (ESCON), but "I was worried, but the team as a whole was winning, so I couldn't stop everyone's momentum. He was hungry and showed the power of the "fireball guy.
Just like last season, they've come from the brink of disaster, but now they've won three straight games, showing their growth. They've passed the baton to the team for the first time in CS history to make a major comeback. "Even with the losing streak, the whole team wasn't in a depressed mood, and I was able to ride that momentum as well." Game 6, with Tatsuya starting after just four days of rest, will be a total war. With the momentum further accelerated by Furubayashi, they'll grab a ticket to the Japan Series.
(Yamaguchi Yasushi)
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・ [Pacific League CS] Nippon-Ham starter Ruei-Yang Gu Lin pitches well, leading the team to a reversal of odds: "We couldn't stop everyone's momentum."
・ [Pacific League CS] Fukumoto Yutaka: Shinjo's tactics are "interesting." Softbank 's reluctance to address Reyes and Nippon-Ham aggressive battery lead to mixed results
・ [Pacific League CS] Softbank loses three games in a row without any highlights... Shinjo Ham puts them in checkmate. Starting pitcher Otsu is knocked out in the fourth inning. "We couldn't hang in there."
・ [Pacific League CS] Shinjo-Ham Fighters are on the verge of defeat... Softbank Chairman Oh Sadaharu: "Tomorrow is like a coin toss" - the ultimate shift towards Game 6
