The Yakult Swallows, the lone Central League team with a better record against the Pacific League than against the other five CL teams since 2005, won their second interleague title on Saturday with a game to spare. They became the first team since the 2011 Hawks to have a winning record against all six interleague opponents, although that doesn’t SoftBank’s achievement in the 24-game home-and-away format then in use.
Elsewhere, Chunichi rookie Kosuke Ukai set a CL record, while Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto both pitched, we had a two-run squeeze, and a runner score from first on a stolen base, so there was a lot going on.
Saturday’s games
Swallows 7, Hawks 4: At Fukukuoka Dome, Munetaka Murakami, whose hometown of Kumamoto is 1-1/2 hours from the ballpark by train, batted like he owned the joint, homering for the second straight day with his 18th and 19th of the year, and drove in six runs as the Swallows overcame a three-run deficit to clinch their second interleague title and their first in four years.
Continue reading NPB news: June 11, 2022