There are dramatic finishes, and there is the madness that unfolded in the 10th inning at Zozo Marine Stadium on Monday night.
The first stage of the Climax Series wrapped up with one of the best games of the entire year, with the Chiba Lotte Marines and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks dueling in the third and decisive game in the Pacific League series.
What began as a left-handed pitching duel between the Marines Kazuya Ojima and the Hawks’ 42-year-old veteran Tsuyoshi Wada evolved into a battle of bullpen attrition and then a high-stakes contest of one-upmanship over the course of 4 hours and 18 minutes.