With tonight’s 4-1 Giants victory over the Hiroshima Carp, the red-and-white fall into third place, a half-game behind our Hanshin Tigers. The result is that Koshien Stadium will host two, possibly three baseball games this long weekend. Game 1 is Saturday at 6pm, and will likely see Messenger facing off against Kenta Maeda. Game 2 will be Sunday, also at 6pm, and Nohmi is scheduled to start. If Game 3 is necessary, Fujinami will take to the mound to close off the series.
Should the Tigers advance, they will head into to Tokyo to face the Giants in a best-of-7 with 6 games remaining and the Giants up 1-0. Yep, those are the rules for playoffs in Japanese baseball! First place gets you perks: six straight home games and a one-game boost. Still, we must cheer that against all odds, the Tigers will pull off a miracle and win it all. GO TIGERS!