And then there were four. The Hanshin Tigers and DeNA BayStars played an elimination game on Monday, setting the field for the final stage of the inappropriately named Climax Series
The best thing about the game was a ninth-inning mound interaction that is going to make it really hard to let Tigers skipper Akihiro Yano go when his season ends.
Tigers 3, BayStars 2: At Yokohama Stadium, 23-year-old Tigers reliever Atsuki Yuasa was once again the Hanshin hero as the Tigers came from behind to beat DeNA and advance to the final stage of the Central League’s Foreplay Series against the Yakult Swallows starting on Wednesday.
I picked the Tigers to win this one, because they were the better team this year at scoring and preventing runs. They weren’t better at winning games, as my podcast partner will remind us, and he picked DeNA.
DeNA’s Toshiro Miyazaki hit a second-inning solo homer off Hiroto Saiki, who’s been electric this year in his comeback from Tommy John surgery, but allowed two runs on two hits and two walks over 2-1/3 innings on Monday.
BayStars starter Haruhiro Hamaguchi stranded three runners over 3-2/3 innings before Teruaki Sato cut DeNA’s lead in half with a home run. The Tigers took the lead in the sixth on doubles by Fumiya Hojo and Koji Chikamoto off Hamaguchi, and a Fumihito Haraguchi off reliever Taisei Irie.
Junya Nishi pitched 1-1/3 scoreless innings of relief, then stunned the announcers by staying in to bat in the top of the seventh. The former Japan under-18 designated hitter stroked a one-out double. He left with one on and two outs in the eighth for Yuasa, who retired captain Keita Sano to preserve the lead.
The BayStars loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against the kid, and in what might have been his last trip to a mound, Yano came out to chat.
“I told him, ‘Don’t make any drama,’” Yano said. “There’s nothing to do but get it done, and enjoy this for all it’s worth. Whatever happens is OK, as long as you go all out.”
“When I got to the mound, he was smiling. I thought, ‘what a great look.’”
Yuasa then got a game-ending double play ball, and the Tigers advanced.
Damn I’m going to miss Yano.
