Pacific League Champions!

When I last wrote, I said that the Hawks chances were slim, but still there, to win the Pacific League. Today, the Hawks completed an amazing comeback to win the PL today for the first time since 2005.

It truly was a team effort, but if one unit was to be singled out as a reason for the Hawks' success, it would be the stellar work of the bullpen. The emergence of Masahiko Morifuku, who has pitched a career-high in innings, has been essential in a year full of career-highs for the Hawks' pitching staff. Despite getting lit up today for four runs, he will be counted on along with the rest of the bullpen in the Second Stage of the Pacific League Climax Series.

A huge reason why the Hawks are PL champs right now is because of the September 18th-20th weekend sweep of the Lions, which was immense. SoftBank won the three games by scores of 9-7 in extra innings, 11-4, and a 5-4 comeback win.

The Hawks also did their job in the makeup games this week, as they crushed the Marines 9-3 in a game where they led from the bottom of the first inning, and the Hawks also procured their third win of the season against Yu Darvish yesterday with a 1-0 win in which Sugiuchi once again shut out the Fighters.

Today, the Hawks were defeated 8-3 by the Rakuten Eagles, but the clincher came when the Fighters, playing for their own playoff spot, secured a sayonara victory over the Lions, giving the Hawks the Pacific League championship.

SoftBank has now completed the regular season, and now they play the waiting game on who they will face in the Second Stage of the Pacific League Climax Series. Their opponents will either be the Lions, the Marines, or the Fighters.

Congrats!

Completely unrelated. Why is your user name NipponHam? Nothing against it. But I've always wondered.

Chalk it up to superstition, I guess.