2009 NPB Playoffs

[Tadasimha]

No one else has done anything here, so I'll post up some scores from the opening rounds of the NPB Playoffs.

Pacific League Climax Series 1st Round
Game 1:
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 11
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 4

Game 2:
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 4
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 1

Rakuten wins first round 2-0

Central League Climas Series 1st Round
Game 1:
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3
Chunichi Dragons 2

Game 2:
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2
Chunichi Dragons 3

Game 3:
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4
Chunichi Dragons 7

Chunichi wins first round 2-1

[Tadasimha]

Pacific League Climax Series 2nd Stage

Game 1:
Hokkaido Hippon Ham Fighters 9
Tohoko Rakuten Golden Eagles 8

Game 2:
Hokkaido Hippon Ham Fighters 3
Tohoko Rakuten Golden Eagles 1

Game 3:
Tohoko Rakuten Golden Eagles 3
Hokkaido Hippon Ham Fighters 2

Game 4:
Hokkaido Hippon Ham Fighters 9
Tohoko Rakuten Golden Eagles 4

Fighters take the series 3-1 and advance to the championship series.

Central League Climax Series 2nd Stage

Game 1:
Chunichi Dragons 7
Yomiuri Giants 2

Game 2:
Chunichi Dragons 4
Yomiuri Giants 6

Game 3:
Chunichi Dragons 4
Yomiuri Giants 5

Game 4:
Chunichi Dragons 2
Yomiuri Giants 8

Yomiuri Giants take the series 3-1 and advance to the championship series.

This is an interesting matchup as both teams have been the best of their respective leagues the entire season. Some history between the two, as the Fighters and Giants used to share the same stadium but the Fighters were always considered second best to the Giants inside Tokyo. Once they moved to Hokkaido, though, the Fighters have become much more of a rival to the "Yankees of Japan".

[Tadasimha]

Game 1

Yomiuri Giants 4

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 3

R H E
Yomiuri 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 - 4 8 0

Nippon-Ham 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 - 3 12 0

WP : Gonzalez ( 1 - 0 )
LP : M.Takeda ( 0 - 1 )
Sv : Kroon ( 1S )
HR : [G] Tani ( 1, 2nd inn. off M.Takeda, 0 on )

[F] Sledge ( 1, 2nd inn. off Gonzalez, 0 on )








Yomiuri
AB H RBI BB HP SO
Sakamoto, SS 4 1 2 0 0 2
Matsumoto, CF 4 0 0 0 0 0
Ogasawara, 3B 4 1 0 0 0 1
Suzuki, PR-LF 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ramirez, DH 4 0 0 0 0 0
Kamei, RF 4 0 0 0 0 0
Tani, LF 4 3 1 0 0 0
Terauchi, 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0
Abe, C 4 2 0 0 0 1
T.Kimura, 1B-2B 3 0 0 0 0 2
Furuki, 2B 2 0 0 0 0 1
Omichi, PH 0 0 0 0 0 0
S.Lee, PH-1B 2 1 1 0 0 0

Nippon-Ham
AB H RBI BB HP SO
Tanaka, 2B 5 2 0 0 0 0
Morimoto, LF 5 1 0 0 0 0
Inaba, RF 5 1 0 0 0 1
Takahashi, 1B 4 2 1 1 0 0
Sledge, DH 4 2 1 1 0 0
Murata, PR-DH 0 0 0 0 0 0
Koyano, 3B 5 1 0 0 0 1
Itoi, CF 3 1 0 1 0 0
Tsuruoka, C 2 1 0 0 0 0
Tsuboi, PH 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nioka, PH 1 1 1 0 0 0
Ono, C 0 0 0 0 0 0
Inada, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0
Nakajima, C 0 0 0 0 0 0
M.Kaneko, SS 4 0 0 0 0 3


Yomiuri
IP BF H BB HB SO ER
M.Takeda, (L) 6 23 5 0 0 3 3
Tateyama + 1 1 0 0 0 1
Hayashi 0 .1 2 1 0 0 1 0
Ejiri 1 .2 7 1 0 0 2 0
Miyanishi 1 3 0 0 0 1 0



Nippon-Ham
IP BF H BB HB SO ER
M.Takeda, (L) 6 23 5 0 0 3 3
Tateyama + 1 1 0 0 0 1
Hayashi 0 .1 2 1 0 0 1 0
Ejiri 1 .2 7 1 0 0 2 0
Miyanishi 1 3 0 0 0 1 0

[Tadasimha]

Game 2

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 4
Yomiuri Giants 2

Series tied 1 - 1
R H E
Yomiuri 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 8 0
Nippon-Ham 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 X - 4 12 0

WP : Darvish ( 1 - 0 )
LP : Utsumi ( 0 - 1 )
Sv : H.Takeda ( 1S )
HR : [G] Kamei ( 1, 4th inn. off Darvish, 1 on )

[F] Inaba ( 1, 3rd inn. off Utsumi, 0 on )


Yomiuri
AB H RBI BB HP SO
Sakamoto, SS 4 1 0 0 0 0
Matsumoto, CF 4 1 0 0 0 1
Ogasawara, 3B 4 0 0 0 0 2
Ramirez, DH 4 2 0 0 0 1
Kamei, RF 4 2 2 0 0 2
Tani, LF 4 0 0 0 0 1
Abe, C 4 0 0 0 0 1
S.Lee, 1B 3 1 0 0 0 1
Furuki, 2B 3 1 0 0 0 1

Nippon-Ham
AB H RBI BB HP SO
Tanaka, 2B 4 1 0 1 0 0
Morimoto, LF 4 1 0 0 0 1
Inaba, RF 4 2 1 0 0 0
Takahashi, 1B 4 2 0 0 0 1
Sledge, DH 3 1 1 1 0 1
Koyano, 3B 4 1 0 0 0 2
Itoi, CF 4 3 2 0 0 1
Tsuruoka, C 2 1 0 0 0 1
M.Kaneko, SS 4 0 0 0 0 1


Yomiuri
IP BF H BB HB SO ER
Utsumi, (L) 2 .2 16 8 0 0 3 4
Tono 3 .1 13 3 1 0 4 0
Toyoda 1 4 0 1 0 1 0
S.Kimura 0 .2 3 1 0 0 0 0
Kaneto 0 .1 1 0 0 0 0 0

Nippon-Ham
IP BF H BB HB SO ER
Darvish, (W) 6 24 7 0 0 7 2
Miyanishi, (H) 1 3 0 0 0 2 0
Kanamori, (H) 1 3 0 0 0 1 0
H.Takeda, (S) 1 4 1 0 0 0 0

[SamtheBravesFan]

Pretty good start there by Darvish.

[Mischa]

Originally Posted by SamtheBravesFan

Pretty good start there by Darvish.

Even more impressive, it was his first game in over a month as he has been out due to back problems.

[Mischa]

Yomiuri won game 3 by a 7-4 margin. The teams traded solo homers for the first 4 1/2 innings, with each club getting 3 (Tanaka, Koyano and Inaba for Nippon Ham, Abe, Ogasawara and Lee for Yomiuri). In the bottom of the 5th, Ogasawara hurt his old club some more with a 2-run double, then Abe singled in 2 in the 8th.

Wirfin Obispo got the win and Keisaku Itokazu got the loss.

It was Yomiuri's 100th Japan Series win ever.

[Mischa]

Eiichi Koyano drove in four and Shinji Takahashi 3 as Nippon Ham won 8-4 to tie the Series at two games apiece. Hisanori Takahashi was roughed up in the loss, while Tomoya Yagi allowed one run in five to get the win. Alex Ramirez hit a meaningless 3-run homer late for Yomiuri. Both Koyano and Takahashi had 3 hits.

[Tadasimha]

Originally Posted by Mischa

Eiichi Koyano drove in four and Shinji Takahashi 3 as Nippon Ham won 8-4 to tie the Series at two games apiece. Hisanori Takahashi was roughed up in the loss, while Tomoya Yagi allowed one run in five to get the win. Alex Ramirez hit a meaningless 3-run homer late for Yomiuri. Both Koyano and Takahashi had 3 hits.

These two teams are really going at it and it looks like the first team to win two in a row will take everything. At this point, though, it looks like the series could go to seven.

[Tadasimha]

Originally Posted by Mischa

Eiichi Koyano drove in four and Shinji Takahashi 3 as Nippon Ham won 8-4 to tie the Series at two games apiece. Hisanori Takahashi was roughed up in the loss, while Tomoya Yagi allowed one run in five to get the win. Alex Ramirez hit a meaningless 3-run homer late for Yomiuri. Both Koyano and Takahashi had 3 hits.

Sorry I havn't posted up the stats from these two games, been away from home. Would you like me to post them or just go on with the next games?

[Mischa]

Originally Posted by Tadasimha

Sorry I havn't posted up the stats from these two games, been away from home. Would you like me to post them or just go on with the next games?

I haven't been posting stats, just summaries, and some people are likely interested in seeing the stats.

Game five was a pitching classic, 1-1, entering the 9th. Shinji Takahashi homered in the top of the 9th to put Nippon Ham ahead. Fighters closer Hisashi Takeda (http://www.baseball-reference.com/bu...Hisashi_Takeda), who had a 1.20 regular season ERA, blew it, allowing solo homers to Yoshiyuki Kamei and Shinnosuke Abe in the bottom of the 9th for an exciting ending.

[Mischa]

The Giants used a 6-man shutout to win game six of the Series, taking their 21st title. Shinnosuke Abe won MVP honors, driving in the winner for the second straight game. Yomiuri won 2-0. The Fighters wasted many chances, stranding 13.

See http://www.baseball-reference.com/bu...9_Japan_Series for Series details

[Tadasimha]

Man, I thought for sure the Fighters were going to do it this year.

I think I may be the world's most unlucky fan: not only did the Reds go in the tank, but first the Wyverns and then the Fighters can't finish the job and win the titles. At least those two teams made the playoffs!

As the Cubs fans say: Wait 'til next year!