The Hanshin Tigers, whose season started under a bad star with seven straight losses, overcame a plague of errors to reach the playoffs only for their fatal flaw to do them in and bring the curtain down on Akihiro Yano’s tenure as manager.

The game was ripe with irony as Japan’s most potent slugger cleared the bases on a single that barely left his bat.

In Osaka, the Pacific League foreplay series will go on for at least another day. Orix, which tied SoftBank for the PL’s best record and won the pennant based on their better head-to-head record, lead their final stage 3-1 due to their automatic one-win advantage and wins in Games 2, and 3.

On Saturday, Orix, needing only a tie to advance a Japan Series rematch with Yakult, will send Taisuke Yamaoka to the mound against Japan’s second-oldest pitcher active pitcher, Tsuyoshi Wada.