[tehsuigi]

At Season's End

The Shizuoka Arrows clinched the 2042 Pacific League pennant with a 6-4 loss to the Saitama Seibu Lions in the middle of September, and finished the month 12-9 to push their record to 89-54 on the season. Yoshikuni Yokota returned from injury and finished with the team's second-best batting average behind Luis Alejandrez. Jon Lutz slumped towards the end, but led the team and tied for 6th in *** with 37 HR. Koji Kashima's 95 RBIs was good for 6th in *** too. Shigejiro Matsumoto's 16 wins, 1.57 ERA, and 284 Ks earned him his second Pitching Triple Crown.

2042 Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage

The Orix Buffaloes earned the right to rematch the Arrows after sweeping the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in two games in the First Stage. The Arrows went 11-6 against the Buffaloes during the regular season, and start the best-of-seven with a one-game head start as pennant winners.

Game 1: Shizuoka 3, Orix 0
Kim Chae-bong continued his dominant postseason performance from last season with 7 shutout innings, striking out 10 and allowing only 5 base runners. Arrows first baseman Tomosaburo Morioka's 2-out 2-run double in the 4th was the only extra base hit for either squad.

Game 2: Shizuoka 5, Orix 2
The Buffaloes got on the board early against Shizuoka with a solo home run from star center fielder Tomohiro Iwahashi, but the Arrows stormed back in the 4th thanks to second baseman Nobuyoshi Ito's bases-clearing double. After a rough season at the plate for Ito, it's a welcome sight. Sato went 6 innings allowing only the early dinger and striking out 8, and Caleb McAdam managed to wriggle out of a jam in the 8th to sent any threat of an Orix comeback.

Game 3: Orix 5, Shizuoka 2
No sweep here, as the Buffaloes got to Arrow starter Hiromitsu Nishi early, scoring 3 runs in the 1st. Orix's catcher, Angelo Ramirez, was the hero of the game, with a 2-run double in the first, then a solo home run in the 6th. Light-hitting shortstop Yui Nakamura did get a double and a solo home run, and right fielder Luis Alejandrez got 3 hits - just weren't in the right order.

Game 4: Shizuoka 5, Orix 0
Have yourself a game, Takao Koike. The sophomore leftie made his first postseason start after missing all of last year's run with an injury, and wasted no time, striking out 12 Buffaloes and allowing only three hits and a walk over 8 shutout innings. The game's biggest hits were 2-run home runs, one each from center fielder Takatoshi Tamaki and Morioka.

For his .500/.588/.571 slash line over the four-game series, Arrows 2B Ito wins series MVP.
Also, Arrows manager Paul Paez announced that Masashi Koide will be starting at LF in the Japan Series to make up for the struggling Jon Lutz.