Dubious Quality

For a long time, it went just like Game 4. In the seventh inning, down 1-0, Hanshin had a stunning series of blunders. With a runner on first and two outs, a routine ground ball skipped off the second baseman's glove and into right field. When the right fielder sprinted in to stop the runner from going home, the ball slipped out of his hand, and the runner scored.

Disaster! Orix led 2-0.

Nerves were getting to everyone, really. Those were the and third errors of the game for Hanshin, and four of their batters had struck out with runners on third earlier in the game.

Bottom of the eight, and Orix brought in a reliever who hadn't given up a single run during the postseason. 

The first batter hit a high hopper to the second baseman, who threw it five feet over the first baseman's head. I guess Hanshin wasn't the only nervous team. It was even more unusual in that players in the NPB are generally better fielders than their American counterparts.

With a runner on first, the next two batters both hit weak balls that somehow dropped in for singles. 2-1 and runners on first and third.

It was at this point I saw something in baseball I've never seen before.

The outfielder who'd dropped the ball in the 7th came up to bat. On a 2-2 count, he was totally fooled by a change-up, but somehow, he slowed his swing in half as he swung forward and managed to foul it off. It was impossible, and yet he did it.

The next pitch was down at his ankles, and he golfed it into the gap for a bases-clearing triple. 3-2, Hanshin. 

The reliever had tears in his eyes on the mound, which is something else I've never seen before.

It was a disaster in slow motion for Orix, and by the time the inning ended, they were down 6-2, and that's how the game ended. 

GAME 6

This is a brief summary, because the Orix pitcher was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the NPBs best pitcher, who will be the subject of a bidding war by MLB clubs in the off-season and will be a #1 starter in the U.S. next year. He was spectacular, throwing a 139-pitch complete game (pitchers are managed differently in Japan) with 14 strikeouts. 

Final score: Orix 5, Hanshin 1.

It would all come down to Game 7.