The Hanshin Tigers missed out on the interleague title, but they're still on track for the one that matters.
Nippon Professional Baseball resumed its regular schedule on Friday and the Tigers have to be feeling pretty good about themselves.
Hanshin had a great run during the interleague campaign, going 15-9 and finishing second — by virtue of losing a tiebreaker (last season's record) — to the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, who were also 15-9, in the standings.