Baseball: Yamamoto, Buffaloes send Japan Series to Game 7

In what might have been his last game in Japanese pro baseball, Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw a complete game Saturday to even the Japan Series at three games apiece in a 5-1 Game 6 win over the Hanshin Tigers and force a Game 7.

Yamamoto, who hopes to move to Major League Baseball via the posting system this winter, struck out a Japan Series record 14 while allowing nine hits in a 138-pitch outing at Orix’s Kyocera Dome Osaka.

The win represented redemption for Yamamoto, who surrendered seven runs in an 8-0 Game 1 defeat a week earlier. The ace’s comeback required him to pitch out of a couple of huge jams with some big strikeouts, and a huge assist from his defense.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Orix Buffaloes pitches against the Hanshin Tigers in Game 6 of the Japan Series baseball championship at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Nov. 4, 2023. (Kyodo)

“I went to the mound able to concentrate really well,” Yamamoto said. “I’m very happy that I was able to deliver the goods right until the end. The crowd’s cheers at the start of the ninth really gave me a boost.”

As the game went on and Orix’s lead widened, Yamamoto continued to go out to the mound.

“Regardless of the pitch count, I was betting this entire game on Yoshinobu,” Orix manager Satoshi Nakajima said.

Moments after Hanshin’s Seiya Kinami saved a run with his glove at shortstop, Sheldon Neuse opened the scoring with the Tigers’ first home run of the series, a second-inning opposite-field home run.

The Hanshin Tigers’ Sheldon Neuse (facing camera) is congratulated by outfield and running coach So Tsutsui after hitting a solo home run in the second inning against the Orix Buffaloes in Game 6 of the Japan Series baseball championship at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Nov. 4, 2023. (Kyodo)

Yamamoto left the bags filled with Tigers runners, and Orix took the lead in the home half. Three hits, the last a single by catcher Kenya Wakatsuki, tied it. Keita Nakagawa’s deep sacrifice fly put the Buffaloes in front.

A big catch against the wall in right by regular Orix catcher Tomoya Mori with two on robbed the Tigers of at least one run in the fourth, and the Buffaloes widened their lead in the fifth with a two-run home run by shortstop Kotaro Kurebayashi, who said he thought nothing special about being a surprise choice to bat third.

Kotaro Kurebayashi of the Orix Buffaloes hits a two-run home run in the fifth inning against the Hanshin Tigers in Game 6 of the Japan Series baseball championship at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Nov. 4, 2023. (Kyodo)

“Of course, I expected him to do something but never thought it would be a home run,” Nakajima said. “He did well.”

Game 1 winner, rookie Shoki Murakami, allowed four runs over five innings before being replaced by Game 2 loser, Yuki Nishi, in the sixth.

“What he (Yamamoto) did tonight was simply amazing,” Murakami said. “I think it was night and day compared to last time.”

Yuma Tongu hit his second homer of the series to make it 5-1 in the eighth.

In the first Japan Series between teams from western Japan’s Kansai region since 1964, the Tigers are trying to win their second championship and first since 1985, while Orix is trying to repeat after winning last year.

“Regardless of who has won or lost up to this point in this Japan Series…we’ve had great games, and tomorrow is the decider,” Nakajima said.

Hanshin Tigers infielders gather on the mound after pitcher Shoki Murakami (facing camera) gave up a two-run home run to Kotaro Kurebayashi in the fifth inning against the Orix Buffaloes in Game 6 of the Japan Series baseball championship at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Nov. 4, 2023. (Kyodo)

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