Before the 2015 NPB season, Nippon Television commentator Suguru Egawa, a former Yomiuri Giants pitcher, named the Tokyo Yakult Swallows as his pick to win the Central League pennant.

Egawa has always been somewhat of an iconoclast, but picking a team breaking in a new manager and coming off consecutive last-place finishes — and ahead of his Giants no less — still raised a few eyebrows.

Turns out, Egawa was onto something, because after a gritty win over the Giants on Sunday afternoon, the Swallows began Monday with a magic number of three in their improbable run to the CL flag.