Overview

• Hanshin beat the Hiroshima Carp 2–0 at Koshien on Sept. 7 to clinch the Central League, the club’s seventh league crown and 11th including the one‑league era, setting a new earliest clinch since the two‑league format began.
• Fujikawa captured a pennant in his first year at the helm, a first for the franchise, guiding a largely homegrown, stable roster through a season of sustained control.
• Reliever Daichi Ishii extended his professional record to 48 consecutive scoreless appearances, and the deep bullpen held firm after starter Hiroto Saiki’s ejection, with Kyoki Yuasa delivering key emergency outs.
• Fans celebrated at Koshien and in Osaka’s Dotonbori district as police deployed about 1,000 officers, restricted parts of riverside walkways and made bridge traffic one‑way to discourage dangerous river‑jumping.
• Regional retailers begin victory promotions on Sept. 8, including department‑store sales and commemorative items, as Hanshin advances directly to the Climax Series Final Stage starting Oct. 15.