2023 Central League Climax Series
First stage
Team (Wins) Manager Season
Chiba Lotte Marines (2) Masato Yoshii 70–68–5 (.507), 15.5 GB
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (1) Hiroshi Fujimoto 71–69–3 (.507), 15.5 GB
DatesOctober 14–16
Second stage
Team (Wins) Manager Season
Orix Buffaloes (4) Satoshi Nakajima 86–53–4 (.619), 15.5 GA
Chiba Lotte Marines (1) Masato Yoshii 70–68–5 (.507), 15.5 GB
DatesOctober 18–21
MVPYutaro Sugimoto (Orix)

The 2023 Pacific League Climax Series (PLCS) was a set of two consecutive playoff series in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). The first stage began on October 14 and the final stage concluded on October 21. The first stage was a best-of-three series between the second-place Chiba Lotte Marines and the third-place Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. The final stage was a best-of-six with the Orix Buffaloes, the Pacific League champion, being awarded a one-win advantage against the Marines, the winner of the first stage. The Buffaloes advanced to the 2023 Japan Series to compete against the Hanshin Tigers, the 2023 Central League Climax Series winner. This is the third straight year that the Orix Buffaloes have won the Climax Series.

Background

For the sixth year in a row, Persol Holdings sponsored the naming rights for the Pacific League Climax Series, and it was officially known as the "2023 Persol Climax Series PA".[1]

The race for the second and third Climax Series spots came down to the end of the season. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks clinched a playoff berth on October 7th,[2] however the seeding and the final team wasn't decided until the last game of the season between the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. With the final rescheduled regular-season game rained out on October 9th, the third- and fourth-placed Marines and Eagles, respectively, finally played their final game on October 10th. A win for either team would allow that team to qualify for the Climax Series while eliminating the other. Lotte won the game which allowed them to clinch second place in the Pacific League, bump SoftBank to third place and eliminate Rakuten entirely.[3]

The Orix Buffaloes clinched their third-straight and 15th overall Pacific League pennant on September 20th. Despite slugging outfielder Masataka Yoshida leaving the team in the offseason to play in Major League Baseball, Orix was still able to lead in the standings throughout the majority of the season and clinched the title relatively early compared to the previous two seasons. It was the Buffaloes third three-peat in its history, its first since 1975–1978 when they won four straight as the Braves. It was the first three consecutive Pacific League championships since the Seibu Lions won five straight between 1990 and 1994.[4]

First stage

Intra-league teams play 25 games against each other during the regular season. The Marines and the Hawks split the season series 12–12–1.[5] The two teams had met in the postseason five times prior to this year, with the Marines only winning two of the five series.

Summary

Chiba Lotte Marines won the series, 2–1.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 14Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 2, Chiba Lotte Marines – 8Zozo Marine Stadium3:0229,126[6] 
2October 15Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 3, Chiba Lotte Marines – 1Zozo Marine Stadium3:2329,147[7] 
3October 16Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 3, Chiba Lotte Marines – 4 (10)Zozo Marine Stadium4:1829,050[8]

Game 1

Saturday, October 14, 2023, 6:01 pm (JST) at Zozo Marine Stadium in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture
Team123456789RHE
SoftBank000002000241
Lotte20200301X890
WP: Toshiya Nakamura (1–0)   LP: Carter Stewart (0–1)
Home runs:
SOF: Yuki Yanagita (1)
LOT: Takashi Ogino (1), Gregory Polanco (1)
Attendance: 29,126
Boxscore

Game 2

Sunday, October 15, 2023, 6:00 pm (JST) at Zozo Marine Stadium in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture
Team123456789RHE
SoftBank102000000380
Lotte100000000161
WP: Kohei Arihara (1–0)   LP: Yuji Nishino (0–1)   Sv: Roberto Osuna (1)
Attendance: 29,147
Boxscore

Game 3

Monday, October 16, 2023, 6:00 pm (JST) at Zozo Marine Stadium in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture
Team12345678910RHE
SoftBank0000000003380
Lotte0000000004X480
WP: Koshiro Sakamoto (1–0)   LP: Ryosuke Otsu (0–1)
Home runs:
SOF: None
LOT: Yudai Fujioka
Attendance: 29,050

Final stage

The championship advanced the Buffaloes directly to the final stage of the Climax Series to host the Marines, the eventual winner of the first stage.[9] In the season series, Orix came out on top 15–8–2 and finished 15.5 games ahead of Lotte.[5] The series is the second time the two teams have met in the Climax Series, the other time being the final stage of the 2021 PLCS that Orix won.

Summary

Orix Buffaloes won the series, 4–1*.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 18Chiba Lotte Marines – 5, Orix Buffaloes – 8Kyocera Dome3:0935,930[10] 
2October 19Chiba Lotte Marines – 6, Orix Buffaloes – 5Kyocera Dome3:2233,634[11] 
3October 20Chiba Lotte Marines – 0, Orix Buffaloes – 2Kyocera Dome3:0935,943[12] 
4October 21Chiba Lotte Marines – 2, Orix Buffaloes – 3Kyocera Dome2:3235,804[13]
* The Pacific League regular season champion is given a one-game advantage in the final stage.
If necessary

Game 1

Wednesday, October 18, 2023, 6:01 pm JST at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
Team123456789RHE
Lotte3000011005110
Orix00030401X890
WP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1–0)   LP: Toshiya Nakamura (0–1)   Sv: Yoshihisa Hirano (1)
Attendance: 35,930
Boxscore

Game 2

Thursday, October 19, 2023, 6:01 pm JST at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
Team123456789RHE
Lotte100003002650
Orix300000200590
WP: Taiki Tojo (1–0)   LP: Taisuke Yamaoka (0–1)   Sv: Naoya Masuda (1)
Home runs:
LOT: None
ORX: Leandro Cedeño (1)
Attendance: 33,634
Boxscore

Game 3

Friday, October 20, 2023, 6:01 pm JST at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
Team123456789RHE
Lotte000000000061
Orix00000002X280
WP: Yuki Udagawa (1–0)   LP: Takahiro Nishimura (0–1)   Sv: Yoshihisa Hirano (2)
Attendance: 35,943
Boxscore

Game 4

Saturday, October 21, 2023, 6:00 pm JST at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
Team123456789RHE
Lotte000000011270
Orix20000100X390
WP: Hiroya Miyagi (1–0)   LP: Atsuki Taneichi (0–1)   Sv: Yoshihisa Hirano (3)
Home runs:
LOT: Kyota Fujiwara (1), Gregory Polanco (1)
ORX: Tomoya Mori (1)
Attendance: 35,804
Boxscore

References

  1. "【パーソルホールディングス】2023年よりプロ野球パシフィック・リーグの 公式戦タイトルパートナーに決定!" [[Persol Holdings] Selected as official game title partner of Professional Baseball Pacific League for 2023!] (in Japanese). Persol Holdings. January 24, 2023. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  2. "Buffaloes delay Marines' march into playoffs". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. October 8, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  3. "Marines clinch playoffs and eliminate Eagles in do-or-die game". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. October 11, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  4. "Buffaloes clinch 3rd straight PL title despite loss of Yoshida". The Asahi Shimbun. September 21, 2023. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "2023 Pacific League Standings". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  6. "Saturday, October 14, 2023". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  7. "Sunday, October 15, 2023". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  8. "Monday, October 16, 2023". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  9. "Marines advance to PLCS final stage with walk-off win". The Mainichi. Kyodo News. October 16, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  10. "Wednesday, October 18, 2023". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  11. "Thursday, October 19, 2023". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  12. "Friday, October 20, 2023". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  13. "Saturday, October 21, 2023". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
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