Overview

• Ryoya Kurihara broke a 1–1 tie with a two-run double in the fifth inning, and Tatsu Yanagimachi added an RBI single to cap the decisive rally.
• Starter Kohei Arihara worked seven innings of one-run ball for his 13th win, and closer Kazuki Sugiyama sealed it for his 30th save.
• The championship is the franchise’s 21st counting the Nankai and Daiei eras, and 23rd including the one-league period.
• SoftBank rebounded from an early-season slide to last place with a seven-game deficit, lifted by a rotation featuring four double-digit winners including Arihara, Tomohisa Ozeki, Livan Moinelo and Naoyuki Uwasawa.
• The Hawks advance directly to the Climax Series Final Stage on Oct. 15, with Hokkaido Nippon-Ham confirmed in second and Orix in third for the First Stage.