Seibu Lions lefty Yusei Kikuchi could be a key to which team the Pacific League sends to play in the Japan Series.
The Lions host the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in the best-of-three first stage of the PL Climax Series. Because NPB declares the higher seed the winner of any CS stage ending in a tie, the Lions will advance to the final stage with one win and a tie.
Kikuchi went 8-0 against the Eagles this season and is 17-4 with a 1.74 ERA against Rakuten in his career. Kikuchi, coming off the best season of his career, may be the best starter on either team, but the Eagles starting staff has more depth to it and on Saturday, he'll be squaring off against Rakuten's top gun, Takahiro Norimoto.