Yusuke Oyama Walk-Off Homer Keeps Hanshin Tigers Atop Central League

Yusuke Oyama ended a four-hour, 20-minute battle at Koshien Stadium with a walk-off home run in the 11th inning Monday, lifting the Hanshin Tigers to a 3-2 win over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars and keeping Hanshin alone atop the Central League.

The victory moved the Tigers to 73-58-1 and reduced their championship magic number to 10. With the second-place Yomiuri Giants idle, Hanshin also opened a half-game lead in a pennant race that has tightened dramatically in September.

Oyama ends it with his 17th home run

The game remained tied 2-2 from the fourth inning through the end of regulation. DeNA reliever Tora Nakagawa retired Teruaki Sato to begin the bottom of the 11th, but Oyama followed by driving a solo home run into the left-field seats for his 17th homer of the season.

It was Oyama’s fifth career walk-off home run, moving him into a tie for second in Tigers history behind only Koichi Tabuchi’s six. The timing made this one particularly valuable: a loss would have left Hanshin vulnerable in a Central League race in which the Giants have erased almost all of the separation that existed earlier in the season.

Hanshin bullpen survives after early pitching change

Hanshin took the lead in the first inning when Shota Morishita doubled home Koji Chikamoto. DeNA answered in the third on a Tsutsugo RBI single, but Morishita immediately restored the Tigers’ advantage with another run-scoring hit in the bottom half.

The BayStars tied the game again in the fourth through an RBI single by Shuto Naruse. Hanshin starter Easton Lucas had already departed after 2⅔ innings, forcing manager Kyuji Fujikawa to rely heavily on his bullpen.

The relief corps responded. Eight Hanshin pitchers appeared in total, and the bullpen kept DeNA scoreless from the fifth inning onward. Daichi Ishii worked around two hits in the top of the 11th and earned his first victory of the season before Oyama ended the game.

DeNA lets its best late chance slip away

The BayStars had a major opportunity to take control in the eighth. DeNA put runners on second and third with nobody out, but Hanshin escaped without allowing a run. After a ground ball failed to bring the runner home, DeNA attempted a squeeze with Takashi Furuichi at the plate. The bunt was missed and the runner from third was caught in a rundown.

That escape became one of the defining sequences of the game. DeNA finished with 11 hits to Hanshin’s nine but could not score after the fourth inning. The loss dropped the BayStars to 66-66-3 and delayed confirmation of their Climax Series place.

Tigers take another step in the Central League race

Hanshin has now beaten DeNA on consecutive days after an 8-1 victory Sunday. More importantly, Monday’s result preserved first place at a point when every game can change the championship picture.

The Tigers head to Jingu Stadium next for games against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, while the Giants remain within striking distance. Hanshin has little margin for error, but Oyama’s latest late-game swing ensured the Tigers leave Koshien still controlling their own path to the Central League title.