CS final round》Invincible Stars! Yokohama seals Hanshin's draw advantage and is expected to advance to Japan's first round

Yokohama DeNA defeated Hanshin in G3 in the final round of the climax series, gaining a draw advantage of 3 wins in the series. (Taken from Yokohama DeNA Official X)

[Sports Center/Comprehensive Report] In the final round of the Nippon Professional Central League climax series in G3, Yokohama DeNA beat Sano Eita and Maki Hidego to score 4 points. The 27-year-old starting left-hander Katayama Haoshi surrendered 7 innings of 8K scoreless high-quality pitching, helping Yokohama defeat the Hanshin Tigers 4:0. They achieved a draw advantage of 3 wins and 1 loss in the series, and had the opportunity to perform the drama of defeating and advancing to Japan's first major tournament.

The final round of the Central League maintained a best-of-six-match system. The Central League champion Hanshin Tigers had one win before the game, but lost two consecutive games. Although there was a scoring opportunity with one on first and second base and one out in the first inning today, Yusuke Oyama hit a double play to resolve the offensive. Yokohama first baseman Eita Sano broke the deadlock in the third inning and blasted Hanshin with a three-pointer in center field by Hiroyuki Saiki.

Please read on...

Hanshin's line was blocked by Katayama Haoshi, who was starting for the first time in his postseason career. In the second half of the 7th inning, he once again captured first and second base, but was also resolved by Katayama Haoshi. This campaign, he pitched 7 scoreless innings and only allowed 2 hits, 8 strikeouts and 1 walk.

Yokohama's star slugger Hidego Maki hit a 2-point cannon from left field in the bottom of the 8th inning, starting two consecutive games. This was his fourth homer in the playoffs. Yokohama defeated Hanshin 4-0 in the final, and Katayama won his first playoff career victory. If Yokohama wins one more game, it will be able to advance to the Japanese competition two years later. The opponent has been determined to be the Western League king SoftBank, who is challenging for the second consecutive championship.