Relief pitching was the one clear advantage the Yomiuri Giants had over the Seibu Lions entering the Japan Series.

Once that was taken care of, the path to the title became much clearer.

The Lions plugged a trio of starters into their relief corps over the final two games of the Series and were rewarded with 12 2/3 combined innings of scoreless relief on the road as they won Games 6 and 7 to take the Japan Series title.