Three Games That Flipped the Race: Swallows Sweep DeNA and Reclaim Third Place
Yakult entered the weekend two games behind the BayStars. Three wins later, the Swallows were one game ahead and back in sole possession of the Central League’s final Climax Series position.
Three days can change the shape of a postseason race remarkably quickly. When the Tokyo Yakult Swallows opened their series against the Yokohama DeNA BayStars at Jingu Stadium on Friday night, they sat two games behind DeNA in the race for third place. By Sunday evening, that deficit had become a one-game lead. Three games, three victories and three very different ways of winning had carried the Swallows back into sole possession of the Central League’s final Climax Series position.
The timing mattered because Yakult had only recently fallen out of that spot after a difficult stretch that included a seven-game losing streak spanning the All-Star break. By the end of that skid on August 6, the Swallows had lost seven straight for the third time this season. The sweep of DeNA therefore did more than extend Yakult’s current winning streak to four games. It gave the club its first three-game sweep at home this season and, more importantly, reversed the standings against the team directly competing with it for third place. With 38 games remaining, a one-game advantage is obviously fragile, but after several difficult weeks the direction of the race suddenly looks very different.
Friday: Nagaoka Breaks It Open
The series began with the most straightforward victory of the three. Yasuhiro Okugawa worked into the seventh inning and allowed two runs in a 7–2 win, giving Yakult exactly the kind of start it needed against the team directly ahead of it in the standings. Manager Takahiro Ikeyama was particularly encouraged by the life on Okugawa’s fastball, saying afterward that he thought the pitch looked excellent from the first inning and specifically noting his ability to record strikeouts with it.
Yakult took the lead in the first when Jo Miyamoto doubled with two outs and Shu Masuda followed with an RBI double, but the game remained close until the sixth. Ruito Nishimura then drove a two-run single into right with runners on second and third before Hideki Nagaoka effectively broke the game open a few batters later. With two outs and the bases loaded, Nagaoka worked the count to 2–2 before driving the eighth pitch of the at-bat, a slider, into the right-field seats for the first grand slam of his seven-year professional career. It was Nagaoka’s fifth home run of the season and extended his hitting streak to six games.
For Nishimura, the two-run single offered another indication that his recent improvement might be real. The 22-year-old was promoted to the first team earlier in August and said afterward that a change to his hitting mechanics in July had finally begun to feel comfortable. By the end of Sunday, he had recorded multiple hits in four consecutive games. Nishimura entered this season with only one hit in his professional career; after the sweep, he already had ten in 2026.
The 7–2 victory reduced DeNA’s advantage from two games to one. Saturday erased the remainder of it in considerably less conventional fashion.
Saturday: Montel Steals a Game
Yakult fell behind 3–0 in the first inning Saturday, but rookie starter Shota Masui settled down and allowed only one additional hit after the opening frame. The offense gradually worked its way back into the game, with Jo Miyamoto driving in two runs as the Swallows tied the score by the fifth. It remained 3–3 into the bottom of the ninth, when a player who had spent the first eight innings on the bench became the central figure of the entire night.
With one out and Domingo Santana on first, Ikeyama sent Montell Higuma, registered with the Swallows simply as Montel, into the game as a pinch-runner. Montel immediately attempted to steal second. DeNA anticipated the play and pitched out, giving catcher Takashi Furuichi an excellent opportunity to throw him out, but Montel adjusted in the middle of his headfirst slide. Seeing the throw, he realized reaching with his left hand would likely result in a tag, pulled it back and reached around with his right, barely touching the bag in time. DeNA challenged the call, but the safe ruling stood.
A few minutes later, Yukihiro Iwata provided the contact Montel needed. With two outs and runners on first and second, Iwata hit an infield single, and Montel never hesitated. He rounded third and raced home, again sliding headfirst and again reaching safely ahead of the tag. DeNA challenged for a second time, and for a second time the safe call survived replay review. Yakult had a 4–3 walk-off victory.
The connection between the two players made the moment even better. Iwata himself had come through Yakult’s developmental system wearing 024, the same developmental uniform number Montel received when he joined the Swallows after being released by Seibu. Montel said afterward that the shared number meant something to him and that he believed Iwata would find a way to come through. On Saturday night, the two former developmental players combined on the play that pulled Yakult even with DeNA for third place.
The walk-off also produced Montel’s first career hero interview. He enthusiastically introduced himself to the Jingu crowd before reflecting on the difficult path that had brought him there, saying that after the frustrations of previous seasons, coming to the Swallows and finally contributing made him feel as though he was becoming part of the team. Ikeyama had been joking since spring training that “Montel has it”—a play on the similarity between Montel’s name and the Japanese expression motteru, used for someone who seems to have a knack for making things happen. After the walk-off, the manager returned to the line with a smile. This time, the joke was difficult to argue with.
Sunday: Winning the One-Run Game
Sunday required something completely different. There was no six-run inning and no walk-off chaos. Yakult scored twice and then spent the rest of the game trying to make those two runs stand up.
Nagaoka provided both runs in the third inning, when he hit his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot that also represented Yakult’s first hit of the game.
Kengo Matsumoto repeatedly pitched with runners aboard. DeNA put its leadoff hitter on in each of the first three innings, and Matsumoto allowed eight hits overall, but he did not issue a walk and kept the BayStars scoreless through five. The sixth was different. Shugo Maki, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and Jose Encarnacion opened the inning with three consecutive hits, with Encarnacion’s hit cutting the lead to 2–1 and leaving runners on first and second with nobody out.
Ikeyama then turned to Yuki Ishihara, a third-year left-hander who had been recalled to the first team only the previous day. Four consecutive left-handed hitters were due, and Ishihara entered with a run already in, nobody out and two runners aboard. He later described his mindset as essentially committing fully to the confrontation and daring DeNA to beat him. Ishihara got Keita Sano for the first out, leaving runners at the corners, then retired Atsushi Katsumata on a ground ball with the runners ending up on second and third. With two outs and both the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, he retired Takuma Hayashi on a foul pop to shortstop and escaped without allowing another run.
It was Ishihara’s first professional hold, coming immediately after his latest recall. Ikeyama called the appearance outstanding and specifically praised him for preventing DeNA from adding another run. Jesús Liranzo, Tomoya Hoshi and Noboru Shimizu protected the lead over the final three innings, with Shimizu earning his second save of the season.
Matsumoto earned his sixth victory and his first since May 17, completing 5-plus innings while allowing eight hits, one run and no walks. He also credited 20-year-old catcher Kan Suzuki, a fellow member of Yakult’s 2023 draft class, for helping guide him through the outing. Matsumoto said the two focused carefully on location and pitch height and praised Suzuki for communicating with him throughout the game.
The final was 2–1. The sweep was complete.
Contributions From Everywhere
Perhaps the most encouraging part of the weekend was how many different players were responsible for it. Nagaoka supplied the biggest swings, with Friday’s grand slam and Sunday’s decisive two-run homer, but the series was hardly carried by one or two established stars. Nishimura continued his four-game run of multi-hit performances. Montel changed Saturday with his legs. Ishihara returned from the minors and immediately escaped the defining jam of Sunday’s finale. Suzuki guided Matsumoto through repeated traffic on the bases, Masui recovered after a difficult first inning Saturday, and Okugawa set the tone with his start in the opener.
Those contributions matter for a team trying to recover from the kind of stretch Yakult recently endured. The seven-game losing streak that ended earlier this month had helped turn what had been a position in the top three into a much tighter fight for the final Climax Series berth. The Swallows did not suddenly discover this weekend that they were capable of occupying third place; they reclaimed a position they had only recently lost.
That distinction makes the sweep more meaningful. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were not the completion of a season-long climb from irrelevance. They were a rapid response to a slide that had threatened to undo much of what Yakult had accomplished earlier in the season.
What the Sweep Means
It is important not to overstate three games. A one-game advantage over DeNA with 38 games remaining can disappear almost immediately, and the recent losing streak is evidence of how quickly circumstances can change. But this was precisely the opponent Yakult needed to beat. Friday’s victory reduced the deficit from two games to one, Saturday pulled the teams level, and Sunday put the Swallows one game ahead.
The manner of those victories offered something encouraging as well. Friday showed the ability to turn a close game into a comfortable one. Saturday showed the ability to erase an early three-run deficit and create a winning run through aggression on the bases. Sunday showed the ability to protect a one-run lead when the game was hanging in the balance.
After the finale, Ikeyama looked back to the beginning of the season, when Yakult had been finding ways to finish games like Sunday’s by protecting narrow leads. He said he wanted to see more of those performances over the remaining schedule as the Swallows pursue the Climax Series. That is probably the appropriate way to view the weekend. It did not solve Yakult’s problems, and it did not erase the losing streak that helped tighten this race in the first place. What it did was undo a significant amount of damage in only three days: Yakult entered Friday two games behind DeNA; by Sunday night, the Swallows were one game ahead.
What Comes Next
There is little time to enjoy it. After an off day Monday, Yakult opens a three-game road series against the Hanshin Tigers at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Tuesday. Hanshin sits atop the Central League, so the series should provide an immediate test of whether the momentum from Jingu travels.
The Swallows have reclaimed third place, but the position remains precarious and the recent losing streak is too fresh to treat four consecutive victories as proof that the difficult stretch is over. Thirty-eight games remain, and the race with DeNA is likely to change again.
For one weekend, though, almost everything Yakult needed went right. A series that began with the Swallows trying to repair the damage from a difficult few weeks ended with them back in sole possession of third place and, for the moment, holding the Central League’s final ticket to the Climax Series.