The Yokohama BayStars hit five home runs, including a pair from cleanup hitter Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, to crush the Hiroshima Carp 9-3 on Tuesday and deny the Central League champion a second straight berth to the Japan Series.
The victory gave the league's third-place team a 4-2 record in the CL Climax Series' six-game final stage — where the Carp began with a one-win advantage by virtue of winning the pennant — and a ticket to the championship series for the first time in 19 years.
It is the first time in the CL for a third-place ballclub to advance to the Japan Series, and the second time in NPB history after the Chiba Lotte Marines achieved the feat in the Pacific League in 2010.