South Korean outfielder Lee Seung-yeop drove in all three runs on Wednesday, leading Bobby Valentine's Chiba Lotte Marines to a 3-2 win over the Hanshin Tigers and their first Japan Series title in 31 years.
Lotte is the first team to sweep a Japan Series since 2002, when the Yomiuri Giants defeated the Seibu Lions. Valentine, meanwhile, becomes the first foreign manager in the 70-year history of Japanese baseball to win a Japan Series.
"I feel wonderful," said Valentine. "We started in spring training with a dream to be here for the last game. We wanted to win the last game and we did."
Valentine, who took the New York Mets to the World Series in 2000 where they lost in five games to the New York Yankees, is in his second stint with the Marines. He guided the team to a second-place finish in 1995.
"I would like to thank everyone in the Lotte organization," said Valentine. "Including [team owner] Mr. Shigemitsu, who had the faith to bring me back for a second time."
Lee connected for a two-run homer in the second inning at Koshien Stadium to give the Marines a 2-0 lead and then drove in a run in the third with a double off Hanshin starter Naohisa Sugiyama.
Lotte starter Dan Serafini gave up two runs on five hits over 5-1/3 innings for the win.
Makoto Imaoka drove in a run with a bloop single in the bottom of the sixth to make it 3-1. Pinch-hitter Shinjiro Hiyama hit a single to right to cut the lead to one run.
After Lotte reliever Masahide Kobayashi walked Atsushi Kataoka to leadoff the ninth. Akihiro Yano then hit into a double play on a failed sacrifice bunt before Kobayashi struck out Atsushi Fujimoto to end the game.
Toshiaki Imae was named the series MVP after going 10-for-15 with four RBIs. He also set a new Japan Series record for consecutive hits when he went 8-for-8 in the first two games.
Nottingham Forest FC are to go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros TC on Thursday, while Celtic FC secured their place in the knockout phase with a victory over FC Utrecht. Aston Villa FC finished second in the league phase after recovering from two goals down to beat FC Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured. Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches, but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way. Sean Dyche’s
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
BATTERED AND BRUISED: Alcaraz suffered a cramp in the third set, but was allowed treatment despite Zverev’s protests, and continued on to win in five-and-a-half hours An ailing Carlos Alcaraz battled past Alexander Zverev yesterday in five epic sets to reach his first Australian Open final and move within a match of becoming the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam. The world No. 1 outlasted the German third seed 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 over a titanic 5 hours, 27 minutes in hot conditions to head to tomorrow’s title match. He only narrowly avoided crashing out after a huge fright at 4-4 in the third set when he pulled up in pain with what appeared to be cramp. He was allowed to have treatment
RSS