For three consecutive games, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters kept the Hiroshima Carp within striking distance. Each time, the Pacific League champions mounted successful comeback victories, taking a 3-2 lead in the Japan Series in the process.
The runaway stars from those contests were Shohei Otani, who had a walk-off single in the 10th inning of Game 3, Brandon Laird, for a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning of Game 4 and Haruki Nishikawa, who won Game 5 with a sayonara grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. They were each given hero interview honors after their big game.
A little further off to the side, away from the main spotlight, is where you'll find reliever Anthony Bass, one of the pieces holding the whole thing together and a mostly unsung hero. Bass doesn't seem too troubled by it though. In many other years he would be at home by now, not serving as one of main cogs for a team one win away from a championship.