Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 431 - 69: The Ticket Secured

"So, what’s up, what’s up? How did the Seibu vs. Rakuten game turn out?"

The SoftBank locker room was buzzing with excitement—just minutes ago, they had wrapped up a make-up game against Orix, but it seemed to have no effect on their spirits.

Nakagawa Seiichi, surrounded by his teammates, was continually refreshing his phone screen, eager to find out the result of the game at Miyagi Stadium, happening miles away.

"Captain, don’t you think it’s time to replace that phone of yours? How come it’s taking so long to refresh..." Yanagida Yuuki giggled, leaning half of his body on Lin Guanglai, teasing Nakagawa Seiichi, who was still using an older smartphone.

Feeling embarrassed by the comment, Nakagawa Seiichi shot back, "Yuuki, shut up! It’s almost out, why the rush?"

As the Nippon Professional Baseball website gradually updated on the small LCD screen, the result of the Rakuten vs. Seibu game was soon revealed:

The home team Saitama Seibu Lions narrowly defeated the Pacific League champion Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 6-4, securing an eight-game winning streak at the end of the season, keeping up the pressure on the SoftBank Team.

"Ah—I knew it, I knew the climax battle wouldn’t be that simple; now we still have to rely on tomorrow’s result, huh?"

As soon as they saw the score, the SoftBank players, who had been huddled together, quickly dispersed, many of them lying down in front of their lockers, complaining about their rivals’ resilience.

It’s no wonder the SoftBank players were feeling this way; according to the current rankings and win-loss gaps, if Seibu Team had lost today’s game, the second-ranked Pacific League team, SoftBank, could have benefited greatly. Then, in the remaining four games, they would only need to win one to secure a spot in the climax series and have a high chance of finishing second with home advantage in the first round of the climax series.

Seeing the disappointed look on his teammates’ faces, Nakagawa Seiichi and Matsuda Naohiro, the team’s nominal captains, clapped their hands to comfort everyone while expressing a viewpoint of continued fighting spirit:

"Alright, alright, a little complaining is fine about things like this; truth is, we’re still in control, with four games left this season, and two against Seibu—winning tomorrow’s head-to-head will mean we advance to the climax series."

"Sure, Seibu’s eight-game winning streak is impressive, but haven’t we, SoftBank, won 9 out of the last 10 as well? When it comes down to it, other teams might get scared, but not us!"

"So, tidy up quickly and get back to rest well. Early the day after tomorrow, we’ll be flying to Saitama Prefecture—with tomorrow’s game, let’s draw a relatively perfect end to this roller-coaster season!"

"Yes, Captain!!!" The entire main squad of players responded with an energetic shout.

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"Yuuji, Taiyuan, get Guanglai warmed up in the bullpen—once the eighth inning is over, I want him to pinch-hit in the top of the ninth and then close the game as the finisher!"

Akiyama Koji was staring intently, with a serious expression, at the Seibu Dome, observing the ever-changing situation, and after a moment of thought, issued this order to Guo Taiyuan beside him.

In the previous innings, amidst the cheers of over 30,000 home fans, the Seibu Lions’ batters were the first to break the deadlock in the bottom of the third—the second batter, Kataoka Jidai, hit a key double, sending runners home for the crucial first run, despite a tough 2-and-2 ball-strike count situation.

If this game ends with this score in favor of Seibu Lions, they will narrow their gap with SoftBank to just 0.5 games; considering both teams have another direct matchup at Seibu Dome tomorrow, Seibu can seize an early advantage.

Luckily, the SoftBank players didn’t just give up; instead, they launched a fierce counterattack and managed to tie the game in the top half of the sixth inning:

Today, Nakamura Akira, leading off, hit a double right at the start, and then, with the help of a high fly sacrifice by Imamiya Kenta, advanced to third base;

With one out and a runner on third, even though Kuriyama Takashi caught Hasegawa Yu’s high fly ball, it didn’t stop Nakamura Akira from using the opportunity to score from third base.

Now, on the field in the center of Seibu Dome, this crucial positioning game between SoftBank and Seibu has already entered the eighth inning; both coaches are making adjustments to the personnel on the field.

On the Seibu side, in the eighth, they sent out their ace closer Dennis Sarfate to pitch and preserve the tied score.

Meanwhile, warming up in the home team’s bullpen is Seibu’s former ace and Eiji Sawamura level pitcher, Yongjing Xiuzhang—due to the "Bunshun Cannon" incident earlier this season, Yangjing was demoted for a period, and after returning to the main squad, he wasn’t in top form; by mid-season, he transitioned directly to the closer role.

Similarly, to win this game, SoftBank is also deploying their best: the pitcher in the bottom of the eighth will be the foreign player Falkenberg, with Lin Guanglai entrusted by Akiyama Koji to come on as the closer in the relief role.