baseball

Central League Climax Series, First Stage preview

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By Steve Trautlein

Matchup: Tokyo Yakult Swallows (70-59-15 regular season record; 2nd place in Central League) vs. Yomiuri Giants (71-62-11; 3rd)

Format: Best of three

What’s at stake: A berth in the Climax Series Final Stage against Central League leaders Chunichi Dragons

Schedule: Saturday, October 29; Sunday, October 30; Monday, October 31 (if necessary). First pitch is 6:30 p.m. for all games

Venue: Meiji Jingu Stadium, Tokyo

Players to watch: Giants: OF Hisayoshi Chono (.317, 16 HR, 69 RBIs); OF Alex Ramirez (.279, 23 HR, 73 RBIs); catcher Shinnosuke Abe (.292, 20 HR, 61 RBIs); LHP Tetsuya Utsumi (18-5, 1.70 ERA); RHP Yuya Kubo (1.17 ERA, 20 saves). Swallows: IF Kazuhiro Hatakeyama (.271, 23 HR, 84 RBIs); OF Norichika Aoki (.316, 4 HR, 44 RBIs), OF Wladimir Balentien (.230, 31 HR, 76 RBIs); RHP Shohei Tateyama (11-5, 2.05 ERA); RHP Lim Chang-Yong (2.20 ERA, 32 saves)

Notes: The Swallows won the regular season series 12-8-4 ... The two teams are meeting for the first time since Sept 20, when the Giants won 6-1 at Tokyo Dome ... Yakult led the Central League from May 30 to Oct 6, when they were overtaken by Chunichi ... The Giants ended the season on an 8-2-1 run ... Balentien, Ramirez, Hatakeyama and Abe were the top four home run hitters, respectively, in the Central League ... Utsumi’s 18 wins were tied for tops in the CL with the Dragons’ Kazuki Yoshimi ... Aoki’s 170 hits were second most in the CL, behind Matt Murton of the Hanshin Tigers (180) ... The Giants have appeared in the Climax Series every year since the current format was adopted in 2007.

© Japan Today

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2 Comments
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Climax Series? Is this safe for work?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Rakuten had those great shirts a few years ago - "Go to Climax!" Yes, indeed.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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