The Yomiuri Giants came within one win of booking a spot in the Japan Series after a 5-5, 12-inning tie with the Chunichi Dragons in Game 3 of the Central League Climax Series second stage on Friday night.
Lee Seung Yeop hit a three-run homer off Kenshin Kawakami in a four-run sixth inning that put Yomiuri ahead 5-3, but the Dragons fought back to send the game into extra innings with a Tyrone Woods solo homer in the eighth and an RBI double by Motonobu Tanishige in the ninth at Tokyo Dome.
Neither broke the deadlock and the result left Yomiuri needing a win on Saturday to reach the Japan Series for the first time in six years under the tiebreaking system of the Climax Series.