SoftBank Hawks vs. Nippon-Ham Fighters ended with a 6–4 Hawks win in Game 1 of the 2026 Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage. SoftBank’s five-run fourth inning erased an early Nippon-Ham lead, and the Hawks held on after a seventh-inning solo homer cut the margin to two.
The game was played Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan. NPB records a 6:00 p.m. start and a 9:14 p.m. finish in Fukuoka’s Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+09:00), equivalent to 9:00 a.m. and 12:14 p.m. UTC on the same date. The game lasted 3 hours, 14 minutes.
| Competition | 2026 Pacific League Climax Series, Final Stage, Game 1 |
|---|---|
| Final score | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 6, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 4 |
| Date and venue | Wednesday, October 14, 2026; Mizuho PayPay Dome, Fukuoka, Japan |
| Recorded time | 6:00–9:14 p.m. JST (UTC+09:00); 9:00 a.m.–12:14 p.m. UTC |
| Opening pitchers | Livan Moinelo (SoftBank); Sachiya Yamazaki (Nippon-Ham) |
| Pitching decisions | Win: Suzuki; loss: Yamazaki; save: Sugiyama |
| Hits and errors | Nippon-Ham: 11 hits, 2 errors; SoftBank: 8 hits, 0 errors |
| Duration and attendance | 3 hours, 14 minutes; 39,894 |
NPB’s official scoreboard and play-by-play list Moinelo and Yamazaki as the opening pitchers. The opening pitchers were distinct from the official decisions: Suzuki earned the win after relieving Moinelo, Yamazaki took the loss, and Sugiyama recorded the save.
SoftBank scored first in the bottom of the opening inning, but Nippon-Ham answered with one run in the second and two more in the third. That put the Fighters ahead 3–1. Their two-run third came on a sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded walk. Moinelo left during the inning, and Suzuki entered with two outs before the Hawks came to bat.
The decisive response came in the bottom of the fourth. SoftBank began the frame with a single and a hit batter, moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, then loaded the bases with a walk. A defensive error helped the first run score; a run-scoring single, two sacrifice flies and another RBI hit followed. The five-run inning gave the Hawks a 6–3 lead without relying on a home run.
The inning also explains how SoftBank won despite recording three fewer hits than Nippon-Ham. The Fighters had 11 hits, but their two errors came into a game in which the Hawks turned baserunners into a five-run rally. SoftBank made no errors of its own.
Nippon-Ham did not go quietly. Gunji hit a solo home run off Osuna in the top of the seventh, trimming SoftBank’s lead to 6–4. The Fighters had additional hits in the inning, but did not bring another run home. Neither team scored again. Sugiyama finished the top of the ninth by striking out the final batter, preserving the two-run win.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 2 |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 6 | 8 | 0 |
The 6–4 score is the result of the game itself. The series tally included a separate advantage awarded under NPB’s 2026 Climax Series rules. SoftBank entered as the Pacific League regular-season champion, while Nippon-Ham came from the First Stage after finishing third and beating the second-place Seibu Lions two games to one.
NPB’s revised Final Stage rules provided a two-win advantage and a seven-game, first-to-five format when the regular-season gap between the top seed and First Stage winner was at least 10 games, or when the First Stage winner finished below .500. The standings put SoftBank 13 games ahead of Nippon-Ham, meeting the first condition. So before the first pitch, the Hawks had two credited series wins; their Game 1 victory made the official series count 3–0. The advantage was a postseason rule credit, not a score from a game played on the field.
The later results are now settled. SoftBank beat Nippon-Ham 6–2 in Game 2 on October 15 and 6–2 again in Game 3 on October 16. Those three on-field wins added to the Hawks’ two-win advantage, bringing them to the five credited wins needed to advance. The club clinched the Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage on October 16 and secured a place in the 2026 Japan Series.
That completed outcome updates the opener’s original schedule context: October 15 was Game 2, but Games 4 through 7 were not needed. For anyone checking only the SoftBank Hawks 6–4 Nippon-Ham result, the key facts remain the five-run fourth, Gunji’s solo homer in the seventh, and a final line of 8 hits for SoftBank to Nippon-Ham’s 11.
For the authoritative result, see NPB’s Game 1 scoreboard and inning-by-inning play-by-play. NPB’s 2026 Climax Series rules notice explains the two-win advantage and five-win target, while its October schedule and results records the completed stage. The Hawks’ official clinching announcement confirms that Game 3 secured their place in the Japan Series.
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SoftBank Hawks vs. Nippon-Ham Fighters: Game 1 recap of the 6–4 Climax Series result, the decisive five-run fourth, official timing, and series context.
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