Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball recorded their third consecutive shutout win in the Central League Climax Series (CS) final stage.

Yokohama defeated the Hanshin Tigers 4-0 in Game 3 of the CS final stage on the 16th at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture.

Hanshin starting pitcher Saiki Hiroto appeared in 25 games this season, going 10-5 with a 2.51 ERA and 175 strikeouts. He recorded 10 wins for the third consecutive year and led the Central League in strikeouts. He was especially strong against Yokohama this year, appearing in five games with a 4-0 record and a 2.40 ERA.

However, the momentum of third-place Yokohama, which advanced to the final stage after defeating second-place Yomiuri Giants 2-0 in the CS first stage, was formidable.

Yokohama missed a no-out, runners at first and second chance in the first inning, but in the third inning after one out the leadoff hitter Watarai Ryuki singled to left and Maki Shugo hit a double to left-center to create runners at second and third. Sano Keita hit a three-run homer off Hiroto’s 150 km/h fastball. Yokohama pulled ahead 4-0 in the eighth when Maki hit a solo home run. They subdued Hanshin again with two blasts.

On the mound, rookie Katayama Hiromi threw 109 pitches over seven innings, giving up two hits, one walk, and recording eight strikeouts with a perfect zero-run performance. In the first inning with one out and a runner at first, an error by second baseman Maki created a first-and-second threat, but he ended the inning without allowing a run by turning a ground-ball double play on cleanup hitter Oyama Yusuke to the shortstop.

He allowed a leadoff batter to reach on a hit by pitch in the second inning but retired 15 consecutive batters through the sixth inning to keep a shutout. In the seventh, he allowed a leadoff runner on a third-baseman error and gave up his second hit of the day after two outs, but ended the inning with a foul fly to first base. Hanshin brought in Ise Daimu in the eighth and Luis in the ninth, and both retired the side in order to finish the game.

Yokohama won Game 1 2-0, Game 2 1-0, and Game 3 4-0. In Game 1 Sano hit a solo home run, and in Game 2 Maki hit the go-ahead solo home run in the eighth inning.

Japanese outlet Nittere News reported, “DeNA CS undefeated 5 straight wins!…three consecutive shutout wins against Hanshin’s ‘three starting pillars’.”

Hanshin, who won the Central League title for the second consecutive year following last year, managed only two hits in Game 2 and again produced only two hits in Game 3. Sato Teruaki, who won the regular-season triple crown in home runs, RBIs and batting average, missed Games 2 and 3 due to injury after going 0 for 4 in Game 1.

Hanshin faced the humiliation of becoming the first team in Climax Series history to suffer three consecutive shutout losses, placing them at risk of elimination.

Meanwhile, in the Pacific League, SoftBank defeated Nippon-Ham 6-2 in Game 3 of the CS final stage and advanced to the Japan Series undefeated with five wins. Pacific League No. 1 SoftBank won the best-of-seven series while carrying a two-win advantage.

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