Two Early Runs Set Up DeNA's Advance
The Yokohama DeNA BayStars defeated the Yomiuri Giants 4-1 at Tokyo Dome on October 11, 2026, completing a two-game sweep of the Central League Climax Series First Stage. Ruki Watarai opened the game with a home run, Keita Sano added a run-scoring hit in the same inning, and DeNA never surrendered the lead.
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The result ended the season for the Giants, who had finished second in the Central League, five games ahead of third-place DeNA. That advantage in the regular season did not translate into a postseason victory: Yomiuri lost the opener 2-1 and scored just one run again in the deciding game.
Nippon Professional Baseball's official game record confirms the 4-1 score, a crowd of 42,248 and a playing time of three hours and one minute. The game began at 2 p.m. and ended at 5:01 p.m., with Yutaro Ishida credited with the win and Reynolds recording his second save of the series.
DeNA was scheduled to move on to face Central League champion Hanshin on October 14 for a place in the Japan Series. The sweep settled the First Stage without a third game and continued a sequence of postseason victories over the Giants: Yokohama has now won all four Climax Series matchups between the clubs.
Watarai and Sano Strike in the First
Watarai's leadoff home run immediately put Giants rookie starter Kazuyuki Takemaru under pressure. Shugo Maki followed with a double, and Sano delivered a timely hit with two outs to make it 2-0. DeNA had converted two extra-base hits and a run-scoring single into a lead before the Giants came to bat.
For Watarai, the first-inning drive followed another decisive home run in Game 1. Reports differ on the precise effect of that earlier hit: one describes it as the go-ahead homer in a game tied 1-1 in the ninth inning, while another calls it a tying homer. Both accounts place him at the center of DeNA's late offense in the opener. The official Game 2 record lists his leadoff shot as his second home run of the series.
Takemaru had led the Giants with 11 regular-season wins, but his postseason start lasted only two innings and 29 pitches. He allowed both first-inning runs and was replaced as Yomiuri turned to its bullpen to keep the game within reach.
Afterward, Takemaru apologized for allowing DeNA to take the early lead. His comment, translated from Japanese, was:
I'm sorry I allowed the opening runs.
The short outing placed a heavy burden on the Giants' relievers, although the immediate problem remained manageable. With DeNA held scoreless from the second through the sixth inning, Yomiuri had time to recover from the opening setback.
Dalbec Narrows the Gap, but the Giants Stall
Bobby Dalbec supplied the Giants' only run with a solo home run off Ishida in the fourth inning. That made the score 2-1 and kept the contest close until the seventh. The official record identifies the drive as Dalbec's first home run of the series.
Yomiuri created other scoring opportunities but did not turn them into runs. Its inability to build on Dalbec's homer repeated the central problem of the opener: the Giants could stay close, yet could not produce enough offense to change the result.
Across the two games, DeNA outscored Yomiuri 6-2. The Giants averaged one run per game, while the BayStars averaged three. In Game 2, DeNA's two solo home runs alone produced more runs than the entire Giants lineup.
That comparison explains why a relatively narrow contest became a decisive series defeat. Yomiuri trailed by only one run for several innings, but every missed opportunity left DeNA's initial advantage intact. Once the BayStars scored again, the Giants needed a rally that their offense had not managed in either game.
Late Runs Give DeNA Breathing Room
Sano helped start DeNA's seventh-inning scoring chance with a leadoff double against Eito Tanaka, the Giants' fourth pitcher. With two outs and a runner at third, Yomiuri brought in Shunya Morita to face Tomotaka Tobashira. The catcher delivered an RBI single, extending the BayStars' lead to 3-1.
Maki added another run in the eighth with a solo home run off Morita, who had remained in the game across innings. The official record lists it as Maki's second homer of the series. His first-inning double and eighth-inning drive gave DeNA extra-base production at both ends of the afternoon.
The scoring was spread across four hitters: Watarai and Sano established the lead, Tobashira widened it, and Maki completed the scoring. Sano also contributed to two separate rallies, first by driving in a run and later by putting himself in scoring position with a double.
DeNA used five pitchers: Ishida, Iwata, Ise, Hamachi and Reynolds, with Tobashira catching. The Giants used six: Takemaru, Shiroki, Nakagawa, Tanaka, Morita and Martinez, with Oshiro behind the plate. Reynolds closed out the victory, and the official record awarded the loss to Takemaru.
A Fourth Postseason Defeat Against Yokohama
The elimination extended a difficult record for the Giants against DeNA in the Climax Series. Their four meetings have come in 2016, 2024, 2025 and 2026, and Yokohama has advanced each time.
The sequence includes different stages and different series lengths. Yomiuri lost the 2016 First Stage by two games to one, the 2024 Final Stage by four games to two, and the 2025 First Stage in two straight games. The latest sweep made it three consecutive seasons in which DeNA ended the Giants' postseason campaign.
This year's defeat was especially sharp because the Giants entered the First Stage as the higher-ranked club and hosted the games at Tokyo Dome. Finishing five games ahead of DeNA had established a clear regular-season separation, but the short series was decided by the BayStars' timely hitting and Yomiuri's limited scoring.
Acting manager Hideki Hashigami, coaches and players were met with jeers when they went to greet spectators on the first-base side after the game. The reaction followed a season in which the Giants had challenged Hanshin for the league lead but finished second, then failed to win a postseason game.
Why the Conflicting Game Account Matters
A separate account describes a very different First Stage clincher: a 7-6 DeNA victory in 11 innings, decided by a Tatsuo Ebina walk-off single after Takuma Hayashi tied the score with two outs. It gives an attendance of 33,767, a duration of about four and a half hours and a combined total of 15 pitchers.
Those details do not match the October 11, 2026 official record. NPB records a 4-1 game at Tokyo Dome, with DeNA scoring in the first, seventh and eighth innings, an attendance of 42,248 and 11 pitchers used. The conflicting account also places DeNA at bat in the bottom of the deciding inning, whereas the BayStars were the visiting team in the official game.
The differences extend to the Pacific League. The extra-inning account describes Nippon-Ham sweeping Orix, while the account accompanying the October 11 result describes Nippon-Ham beating Seibu 1-0 to level their series at one win apiece.
The 7-6 narrative therefore should not be combined with the confirmed 4-1 result. Its late rally, player quotes and individual performances cannot be treated as events from this game. The official record provides the basis for the score, venue, attendance, pitching decisions and home runs reported here.
Hanshin Awaits in the Final Stage
DeNA's next scheduled opponent was Hanshin, the Central League regular-season champion, with the Final Stage due to begin on October 14. The winner advances to the Japan Series, where the Central League representative meets the Pacific League representative.
The Climax Series gives clubs another route to the Japan Series after the regular season. In the First Stage, the second- and third-place teams contest a best-of-three series. Winning twice ends that matchup, which is why DeNA's October 11 victory eliminated the need for a third game against Yomiuri.
The league champion enters in the Final Stage with an automatic one-game advantage. That makes DeNA's next assignment different from the completed First Stage: the BayStars must overcome an advantage built into the format for the club that finished first.
The immediate postseason schedule was:
- October 10: DeNA won the Central League First Stage opener 2-1 against the Giants.
- October 11: DeNA won Game 2 by 4-1 at Tokyo Dome, completing the sweep. Nippon-Ham beat Seibu 1-0 to tie their Pacific League First Stage series 1-1.
- October 12: Nippon-Ham and Seibu were scheduled to play their deciding First Stage game.
- October 14: DeNA was scheduled to begin the Central League Final Stage against Hanshin.
No result from the Hanshin matchup was established by the October 11 game. What DeNA had secured was advancement, achieved through early scoring, late insurance runs and a pitching staff that held the Giants to one run in each game.
Key Points
- DeNA defeated the Giants 4-1 at Tokyo Dome on October 11, 2026, to win the First Stage two games to none.
- Watarai homered in the first inning, Sano drove in a run, Tobashira added an RBI single in the seventh, and Maki homered in the eighth.
- Dalbec's fourth-inning home run accounted for the Giants' only run.
- NPB recorded 42,248 spectators and a game time of three hours and one minute.
- The Giants scored two runs across the series and have lost all four Climax Series matchups against DeNA.
- DeNA was scheduled to face Hanshin in the Final Stage beginning October 14.
- A separate 7-6 extra-inning account conflicts with the official record and does not describe the confirmed 4-1 game.
