We entered the weekend with one of six playoff spots set and on Saturday we had three. The Yomiuri Giants clinched the Central League pennant by crushing the Hiroshima Carp, who tied a franchise record for losses in a month with their 19th, with Tomoyuki Sugano earning his 15th win, matching the two-time Sawamura Award winner’s second best season total from 2018.

To keep up the theme from last weekend’s post about how this year’s dead ball affected the fortunes of the Hiroshima Carp, “Better red AND dead,” the Giants joined the SoftBank Hawks as league champions. The Carp, Hawks and Giants are all good at winning without power because of their pitching and defense. When the power switched back on, the Carp faded, while the Giants and Hawks just rolled on.