SMBC Japan Series 2026 Game 2 DeNA 3-4 Softbank Hawks = 10th extra inning = (25th, Yokohama)

The second time both Game 1 and Game 2 went into extra innings. Following Game 1, the Softbank Hawks won in an extra inning. This marks the second time in 15 years that the first two games of the Japan Series both went into extra innings, the first being the 2011 series between the Softbank Hawks and Chunichi (at Yahoo Dome, where Chunichi won both games 2-1 in 10 innings). With this, they have won six consecutive extra inning games since Game 4 in 2014, including one draw. This surpasses the five-game winning streak of The Giants from Game 1 in 1970 to Game 3 in 1977, setting a new record for the most consecutive extra inning wins in the series.

First at-bat game-winning Home Run: Kawamura, who had no Home Runs during this year's regular season, hit a go-ahead game-winning Home Run in his first series at-bat in the top of the 10th extra inning. He is the 17th hitter to hit a Home Run in the series after having zero during that year's regular season, the first since Hiroyuki Shirasaki (DeNA) in Game 6 of 2017. He is also the 17th player to hit a Home Run in his first series at-bat, the first since Uchiyama (Yakult) in Game 2 of 2022. Kawamura is the first player ever to hit a first at-bat Home Run during an extra inning. He is the second player to have that Home Run become the game-winning hit, following Orestes Destrade (Seibu), who recorded a go-ahead three-run Home Run in the first inning of Game 1 in 1990. (Yamato Abe)