The first stage of the professional baseball and climax series will begin on the 8th in both the Central and Pacific leagues.
In the Central League, 2nd place, DeNA, and 3rd place, Hanshin, and in the Pacific League, 2nd place, Softbank, and 3rd place, Seibu will play.
In the first stage of the Climax Series, the 2nd and 3rd place teams of the regular season will play against each other in both the Central and Pacific leagues.
Central League 2nd place, DeNA vs. 3rd place, Hanshin
In the Central League, 2nd place DeNA, who advanced to the Climax Series for the first time in 3 years, and 3rd place Hanshin, who came back from a 9-game losing streak, will face off at Yokohama Stadium.
The starting pitcher for the first round is Shota Imanaga, who achieved a no-hitter in June for DeNA, and Teruhiro Aoyagi, who won three titles for Hanshin: the most wins, the highest winning percentage, and the best ERA.
DeNA has a record of 16 wins and 9 losses against Hanshin this season, and a big win at Yokohama Stadium with 11 wins and 2 losses.
On the other hand, Hanshin pitcher Aoyagi has won three games against DeNA this season, and it will be interesting to see how DeNA, who shows unparalleled strength at home, will attack Aoyagi.
DeNA manager Daisuke Miura said, "Although we weren't able to win the league title, I want to keep that frustration in mind as we fight for our team slogan, 'Yokohama counterattack.'"
In addition, the head coach of the Hanshin Tigers, Yodai Yano, said, ``The players persevered and created a chance to fight at the end. talking
Pacific League 2nd place, Softbank vs. 3rd place, Seibu
In the Pacific League, 2nd place Softbank, who missed the championship in the final game of the regular season with the magic number for victory as "1", and 3rd place Seibu, who came back from last year's bottom, will face off at Fukuoka City's PayPay Dome. To do.
The point of the game will be how Seibu's pitchers, who boast the league's top team ERA, will face the league's top team batting average and total points against Softbank's batting line.
The starting pitchers for the first game will be Kodai Senga for Softbank and Mitsunari Takahashi for Seibu.
As for the batter, attention is focused on Softbank's Yuki Yanagida, who hit 8 home runs from last month to this month, and Hodaka Yamakawa, who hit 41 home runs and won the home run king title.
Hiroshi Fujimoto, manager of Softbank, said, "I want the whole team to hit the climax series with the frustration of losing the championship in the final round."
Seibu manager Hatsuhiko Tsuji said, "I got the right to challenge in 3rd place, so I want to challenge myself as a challenger. I have nothing to lose, so I want to do my best."
The first stage will be a 3-game system, and the winning team will compete with Yakult, who won the league in the final stage of the 6-game system starting on the 12th of this month, and Orix to advance to the Japan Series.