2012 NPB Playoffs

[Tadasimha]

The 2012 regular season has finished for Nippon Professional Baseball and the playoffs will begin this coming Saturday, October 13th. The Yankees of Japan, the Yomiuri Giants, once again have won the Central League regular season title while in the Pacific League the Hokkaido Fighters are regular season champions. Here are the final standings for the regular season: http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/standings/

The Giants await the winner of the Central League 1st stage Climax Series between the Chunichi Dragons and the Yakult Swallows. The Seibu Lions and Fukuoka Hawks will face off in the Pacific League. These series' are both best of three game sets.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Seems like Chunichi has the advantage in the Central, and I think Kenshin Kawakami is going to start Game 1! Obviously hurt most of the year, but it seems like he had some good final starts.

Just by eyeballing it, I'd say that the favored team for the Pacfic Climax is Seibu.

[Tadasimha]

CL Climax Series First Stage: Yakult - Chunichi:
Kenichi Nakata ended up starting for the Dragons and gave them 5 shut out innings of 3 hit pitching. The Dragons offense drove in 6 runs on 11 hits while the Swallows managed only 1 run on five hits and that one run came in the 8th inning. Both teams went to their pens early as Yakult starter Masanori Ishikawa only went 4 innings.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/games/s2012101301764.html

PL Climax Series First Stage: Fukuoka - Seibu:
It was a pitchers' duel in the Pacific League as Hawks starter Tadashi Settsu would pitch eight innings and Lions starter Kazuhisa Makita would go nine but would take a 2-1 loss in the first game in the series. The Hawks took an early 2-0 lead and Settsu kept the Lions off the board through the 8th. Brian Falkenborg was brought in for the 9th inning but would surrender a run on two walks and a hit as the Lions tried to rally. Masahiko Morifuku then came in and shut down the Lions to preserve the win for the Hawks.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/games/s2012101301765.html

[SamtheBravesFan]

Oooooo, boy. Fans aren't going to like Falkenborg for that.

I see I was wrong, maybe it's Kawakami starting Game 3 if it goes to that.

[Tadasimha]

CL Climax Series First Stage: Yakult - Chunichi
The second game between the Dragons and Swallows was a pitchers' duel won by Yakult, 1-0. The winning pitcher, Shohei Tateyama, went six full innings, allowing only 4 hits and striking out six and working around 4 walks. Dragons pitcher Soma Yamauchi went five innings and also allowed only 4 hits and walked none but would give up the only run of the game in the 4th inning. Both bullpens were stellar, each allowing only one hit the rest of the way as the Swallows evened their series with the Dragons, setting up a deciding game three.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/games/s2012101401766.html

PL Climax Series First Stage:Fukuoka - Seibu
After being held to just a single run in the first game, Seibu's offense came to life as the Lions scored 7 runs in the 3rd inning and would cruise to an 8-0 victory of the Hawks to even this series and force a winner take all game three also. Seibu chased Hawks starter Shota Takeda after scoring 4 runs off him and then would score three more off two different relievers after that. Lions starter Takeyuki Kishi struck out 8 while working 5 innings and the Seibu pen would complete the shutout over the final four inning.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/games/s2012101401767.htm

[SamtheBravesFan]

Homer by Balentin was all that the Swallows needed. I still believe Chunichi will win, because Kawakami will surely be up for that game.

[Tadasimha]

CL Climax Series First Stage: Yakult - Chunichi
Yakult took an early 1-0 lead off of Dragons starter Masahiro Yamamoto (who would only pitch 3 innings, giving way to Kawakami for the 4th and 5th, but couldn't manage another run the rest of the way. In the bottom of the 8th, with two on and one out, Tony Barnette was brought in. He promptly walked the bases loaded and wnet 3-0 on the next batter, Tony Blanco. Blanco would foul off the next pitch and then hit a grand slam to put the Dragons up 4-1. The Swallows couldn't manage a hit against winning pitcher Takuya Asao. The Dragons move on to face the Yomiuri Giants in the Second Stage.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/games/s2012101501768.html

PL Climax Series First Stage: Fukuoka - Seibu
Former Red and Red Sox player Wily Mo Pena delivered a two run double for the Hawks in the 4th inning. In the bottom of that inning, Takeya Nakamura hit a solo home run to cut the lead in half. The score would remain the same until the top of the 8th when the Hawks would add an insurance run from a single by Seiichi Uchikawa. That run would prove the game winner as Jose Ortiz would hit the Lions' second solo homer of the game to cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th, but that was all the runs the Lions could muster.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/games/s2012101501769.html

[SamtheBravesFan]

Interesting decision by the Lions to go to the pen so early.

It may be because he pitched yesterday, but I noticed that it wasn't Falkenborg closing for the Hawks, but Hideki Okajima.

In any case, Chunichi has a really tough battle ahead for them. Hawks could have a shot against the Fighters.

[Tadasimha]

Hawks definitely have a shot against the Fighters - they won 13 over Hokkaido during the regular season, losing 9 with 2 ties. Several of those wins were early in the season, and the Fighters won several of the games later on. The Hawks did take the last two meetings between the clubs at the end of the season.

The Giants finished with a 10.5 game lead over the Dragons but the two teams effectively split their season series: 10 wins, 10 losses, 4 ties. That said, the Giants are always good in the post-season and starting down 0-1 doesn't make it any easier.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Hawks definitely have a shot against the Fighters - they won 13 over Hokkaido during the regular season, losing 9 with 2 ties. Several of those wins were early in the season, and the Fighters won several of their last meetings. The Hawks did take the last two meetings between the clubs at the end of the season.

Ah, i forgot to look at that. As much as the teams play each other, that record probably has a lot of significance.

The Dragons, by comparison, are 10-11-3 against the Giants. That's not too bad. I did forget about the detail that says the league winners get a 1-0 lead, though.

I look at the Yakyu Baka blog as well as the NPB website for any data.

[Tadasimha]

Central League Climax Series Final Stage: Yomiuri - Chunichi
The Dragons took game one from the Giants, 3-1, evening the series at a game apiece. Masahiko Morino went 2-4 and scored two runs for Chunichi as the Dragons banged out nine hits while Yomiuri manged the one run on only five scattered hits. Both starters were done by the 6th with Dragon's starter Yudai Ono being lifted with two outs in the 6th getting the win over Tetsuya Utsumi.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/games/s2012101701770.html

Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage: Hokkaido - Fukuoka
This game was all about the pitching as both starters held their opponents scoreless until the 7th inning. In the top of the 7th, the Hawks knocked in two runs against starter Mitsuo Yoshikawa with a single from Hitoshi Tamura. Hawks starter Yao-Hsun Yang could not maintain the 2-0 lead as in the bottom of the 7th, as Yoshio Itoi hit a two-run home run to tie the game. Two relievers could not stop the Fighters from driving in another run to claim the lead, 3-2. Hokkaido would keep the Hawks off the board the rest of the way to claim a 2 games to none lead.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/games/s2012101701771.html

[Tadasimha]

Central League Climax Series Final Stage: Yomiuri - Chunichi
Giants' starting pitcher Dennis Houlton lasted only 3 2/3 innings, giving up 7 hits and 3 earned runs. With a 1-0 lead, he appeared to get frustrated in the 2nd with the strike zone and walked the bases loaded with no outs after giving up two sharp hits that had runners on 1st and 3rd. Dragons pitcher Junki Itoh came up and hit a grounder in front of the plate that both Houlton and Yomiuri catcher Tanishige assumed had hit foul but the ball was ruled fair and the tying run scored. The next batter pushed across a 2nd run with a groundout, giving Chunichi the lead, but Houlton induced two flyouts to end the inning. He gave up another run in the 4th and was pulled after that. The Giants' pen would fare no better as the Dragons continued to bang out hits and push across runs, eventually having a 4 -1 lead. After giving up a 1st inning run, Itoh then pitched shutout ball into the 8th when the Giants drove in their 2nd (and last) run of the game. The Dragons added a run in the top of the 9th for the final score of 5-2. Chunichi leads the series now 2-1.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/games/s2012101801772.html

Pacific League Climax Series Finals Stage: Hokkaido - Fukuoka
Offensively the star of this game was Hokkaido Fighters right fielder Yoshio Itoi who went 2-3 and accounted for all 3 of the Fighters' runs. In the 1st, Itoi hit a two-out triple and scored the Fighters' first run on a Hawks' fielding error. In the 7th, with two outs and a runner on 2nd, Itoi hit a home run. Meanwhile, the Hawks managed six hits but could not score a run against the Fighters pitching. The Fighters now have a commanding 3 games to none lead over the Hawks with thie 3-0 win.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/games/s2012101801773.html

[SamtheBravesFan]

*whistle* Two straight wins by Chunichi. I really wonder if the Giants are panicking a little bit now.

[Tadasimha]

*whistle* Two straight wins by Chunichi. I really wonder if the Giants are panicking a little bit now.

Chunichi has to be feeling pretty good right now, that is for certain. The "Yankees of Japan" might just be feeling like the Yankees of American right now!

[Tadasimha]

Central League Climax Series Final Stage: Yomiuri - Chunichi
Game three was tight from the start as the Dragons took an early 2-0 lead in the 2nd but the Giants cut that lead in half in the bottom of that inning, only to see Chunichi get that run back in the top of the 3rd. Shuichi Murata hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 4th to cut the Dragons' lead to 1 run again. In the 6th, Chunichi's Kazuhiro Wada hit his own solo shot to make the score 4-2. Then, in the bottom of the 6th, Yomiuri's Yoshinobu Takahashi hit a two-run home run to tie the game at 4. The game would stay tied and go to the 10th when, with 1 out and runners on the corners, pinch hitter Takahiro Donoue hit a single that drove in the winning run for a 5-4 extra inning victory. Chunichi is one game away from going to the Japan Series and the Giants must now win three straight to advance.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/games/s2012101901774.html

Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage: Hokkaido - Fukuoka
Last years' champs are done as the Fukuoka Hawks are swept out of the playoffs by the Hokkaido Fighters who won 4-2 to advance to the Japan Series. The Fighters got on the board early against Hawks starter Tadashi Settsu, scoring two runs off of the 17 game winner who injured himself trying to cover 1st in the inning. He was unable to finish the inning due to the injury and the Fighters would score a 3rd run against his replacement. The Hawks pen then settled in and gave up only a single run through the next seven inning. Fighters' starter Brian Wolfe pitched into the 7th, allowing only three hits and one run (a solo home run in the 7th) and while the Hawks would get one more run in the 8th, the Hokkaido pen preserved the victory and the Fighters' first trip to the Japan series in three seasons.

http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2012/games/s2012101901775.html