2021 Japan Series

The Orix Buffaloes finished the regular season in first place to win the Pacific League (PL) pennant, their first league title since 1996 and 13th overall. Orix started the season slow but went on to finish first in interleague play in June. They also won 11 straight winning decisions, their longest streak in 37 years, and spent the majority of the summer in first place. The championship advanced the Buffaloes directly to the Final Stage of the PL Climax Series to host the second-place Chiba Lotte Marines, the winner of the First Stage. The Buffaloes defeated the Marines in the best-of-seven series, winning the series, 3–0–1 (including the one-game advantage). In the Central League (CL), the Tokyo Yakult Swallows were awarded the league pennant. The championship was their first title since 2015 and eighth overall. The Swallows advanced directly to the Final Stage of the CL Climax Series to host the Yomiuri Giants, the winner of the First Stage. As in the PL Final Stage, Yakult also advanced to the Japan Series by defeating the Giants, also with a 3–0–1 result. ==Series notes==

{{multiple image | border = infobox | image_gap = 20 | caption_align = center The Buffaloes and Swallows both finished in last place in their respective leagues in the two seasons prior to 2021. It is the first time that the two last-place teams from the previous season played each other in the Japan Series. It is also only the second time since 2010 that the Japan Series didn't feature either the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks nor the Yomiuri Giants, and the first time since 2016 that the Pacific League representative wasn't the Hawks. Orix's last Japan Series appearance and title was in 1996, when Ichiro Suzuki helped to lead the then-named BlueWave to victory. Since the championship, the team had merged with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes (as part of the 2004 NPB realignment), and the team had finished with a winning record only four times from 2000 to 2020. The Swallows' last Japan Series title came more recently in 2001, against the defunct Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, making this matchup, technically speaking, a rematch of the 2001 Japan Series. Yakult also won the Central League title in and advanced to the 2015 Japan Series, but lost to the Hawks. Since then, Yakult had only one winning season from to , in , where they were swept by the Yomiuri Giants in the first stage of that year's Climax Series. The two teams have only met each other in the Japan Series twice: 1978 and 1995, with the Swallows winning both. This break, along with games cancelled or postponed by weather or COVID-19, required the Japan Series to be pushed back into late November. Prior to the start of the series, the two managers did not agree to name probable starting pitchers before each game, the first time since 2017, and therefore the teams were not required to do so. The home field advantage for the Japan Series alternates between the Pacific and Central leagues every year. For this series, it was the PL's turn to hold the advantage, so home field was awarded to the Buffaloes. The three games hosted by Yakult, Games 3–5, were played at Tokyo Dome instead of the Swallows' traditional home field, Meiji Jingu Stadium. With the postseason delayed by one week due to the COVID pandemic, a scheduling conflict arose with an amateur baseball tournament. During the regular season, the Swallows were forced to play several home games in August and September in Tokyo Dome as well because of Jingu's proximity to the Olympics and Paralympic games being held at the time. Additionally, Orix held the last game of the series at Hotto Motto Field in Kobe instead of Kyocera Dome Osaka because of scheduling conflicts with AAA concerts. Hotto Motto Field was the home stadium of the Orix BlueWave before merging with the Kintetsu Buffaloes. After merging, the team split their home games between Kobe and Osaka, however, Orix has played less than ten games in total at the stadium in the previous two seasons. Due to COVID, attendance for the games was limited to 50% of each stadium's maximum capacity, however approximately 6,000 extra fans that could show proof of vaccination were allowed into Games 1 and 3. For the eighth consecutive year, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) acted as the sponsor and held the naming rights for the Japan Series, which was officially known as the "2021 SMBC Japan Series". Unlike the 2021 regular season and Climax Series games that ended after nine innings because of COVID-19 restrictions, Japan Series games were allowed to go the regulation limit of 12 innings before concluding with a tie. Game 7 of the Japan Series was set for November 28. The first five games were played in domed stadiums. However, a contingency plan was set by NPB in case Game 6, 7, or potentially 8 were postponed by rain, setting the last possible date of the series for November 30. Under NPB rules, if there was even one tie game, the last day would be November 29 because of a travel day for a possible Game 9 (which has never happened). If Games 6 or 7 were postponed by rain, November 30 would be the last possible date for the series. The Series could not be played into December, unlike Taiwan's CPBL, which established a last possible date of December 5. If inclement weather did not allowed for seven games to be played by November 30, the team with the most wins after the November 30 game was completed would have been declared the winner. If a game needed to be played on November 30 and was tied after 12 innings, the 13th inning onward would have used the World Baseball Softball Confederation's extra innings rule that starts both teams with baserunners on first and second base with no outs, and would have continued until a winner was decided. ==Summary==

{{MLB Playoff Summary : ==Game summaries==

Game 1 drove in the game-winning run in Game 1. The Orix Buffaloes Junior Team threw out Game 1's ceremonial first pitch. Yasunobu Okugawa started for Yakult and Yoshinobu Yamamoto started for Orix. The game was scoreless for five innings, until Yamamoto issued two walks and Yuhei Nakamura hit a run batted in (RBI) single in the sixth inning. Steven Moya tied the game for Orix with a pinch hit home run in the seventh inning, and Yakult took a 3–1 lead in the eighth inning on a two-run home run by Munetaka Murakami. With Yakult closer Scott McGough pitching in the ninth inning, the Buffaloes led off with a single by Kotaro Kurebayashi and a walk by pinch hitter Adam Jones. Shuhei Fukuda then bunted to advance the runners, but McGough's failed attempt to throw out the lead runner at third base left the bases loaded. Yuma Mune then tied the game with a two-RBI single followed by the game-winning RBI double by Masataka Yoshida. Orix's win extended the PL's Japan Series winning streak to 13 games after the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks swept the previous two series. Yakult's win broke the PL's Japan Series winning streak and was the first CL win since the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Game 2 of the 2018 Japan Series. In the first of three games played at Tokyo Dome instead of the Swallows' home field of Meiji Jingu Stadium due to a scheduling conflict, Daiki Tajima started for Orix, while Yakult started Yasuhiro Ogawa. Orix scored first on an RBI single by Yuma Mune in the third inning. Swallows starter Masanori Ishikawa allowed only one baserunner from the second through the fifth innings, however Shuhei Fukuda reached base on a two-out single in the sixth inning. He then scored to tie the game on a single by Yuma Mune after Santana couldn't field the ball cleanly in the outfield. In the bottom half of the inning with two outs against Orix reliever Hirotoshi Masui, Santana walked and Yuhei Nakamura hit a single. Masui was replaced by reliever Motoki Higa and José Osuna singled to give the Swallows the lead, 2–1. Yakult relief pitching was able to keep Orix scoreless for the remainder of the game, securing 41-year-old Ishikawa and the Swallows the win. Game 5 hit the game-winning home run for Orix Juri Hara started Game 5 for Yakult and Sachiya Yamasaki started for Orix; both pitchers allowed two runs in innings pitched. Domingo Santana scored Yakult's first run in the second inning, and Masataka Yoshida scored for Orix in the fourth inning. Munetaka Murakami hit a home run for Yakult in the bottom of the fourth inning, and Orix tied the game in the sixth inning after Yoshida reached base on an error and back-to-back singles drove him home. With the game tied at 2–2, Orix scored two runs in the seventh inning on a single by Kotaro Kurebayashi, an RBI triple by Ryo Ota, and an RBI pinch hit single by Steven Moya. Orix added another run in the eighth, and Tetsuto Yamada hit a home run for Yakult in the eighth inning to tie the game. Orix pinch-hitter Adam Jones hit the game-winning home run off Yakult closer Scott McGough in the ninth inning. Game 6 won the Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award. In Game 6, Hirotoshi Takanashi started for Yakult and Yoshinobu Yamamoto started for Orix. Both pitchers kept the game scoreless until the fifth inning. José Osuna began the Swallows' half of the inning with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a single by Yasutaka Shiomi to take the lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Orix catcher Kenya Wakatsuki was ruled out at first base on a ground ball, but the call was overturned on review. After a sacrifice bunt moved Wakatsuki to second base, Shuhei Fukuda drove him home and tied the game with an RBI single. Yakult removed Takanashi from the game after giving up the run. In his outing, he allowed four hits and two walks while striking out seven over innings. ==See also==