Yokohama DeNA BayStars Beat Hanshin Tigers 8–5 in Climax Series Game 4

Updated October 17, 2026, after the official result was posted: Yokohama DeNA defeated the Hanshin Tigers 8–5 in Central League Climax Series Final Stage Game 4 at Koshien Stadium. NPB marks the game finished. The result gives DeNA the Final Stage and a place in the Japan Series. DeNA’s announced starter was Katsuki Azuma; Hanshin’s was Koutaro Ohtake.

The NPB game page records a final score of DeNA 8, Hanshin 5, and identifies the matchup as Central League Climax Series Final Stage Game 4. This update replaces the earlier preview status with the completed result and official game details. The score below follows NPB’s final game report; it does not rely on an unconfirmed live update.

Game 4 at a glance

NPB’s October schedule listed the game for 14:00 in Japan. The final game report records the actual start one minute later, at 14:01, and the finish at 17:55. Those timestamps are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00); the UTC equivalents are shown for international readers, and each falls on October 17 in both time zones. Japan does not shift its clocks for daylight saving time. The official schedule had announced Ohtake and Azuma as the starting pitchers, and the game report lists both among the pitchers used.

How the scoring unfolded

DeNA scored first with one run in the opening inning, but Hanshin answered in the bottom half to make it 1–1. The game remained tied through the second and third innings. In the fourth, DeNA moved ahead with two runs, including a two-run home run by Naruse against Ohtake, for a 3–1 lead.

Hanshin began its response in the fifth. Morishita hit a solo home run against Azuma, cutting the gap to one. The Tigers added another run in the sixth to tie the score at 3–3, then took a 5–3 lead with two runs in the seventh. Morishita hit his second solo home run of the game in that inning, this one against Hamachi.

DeNA narrowed the margin with one run in the eighth, leaving Hanshin ahead 5–4. The BayStars then scored four times in the ninth, while the Tigers did not score in their final turn at bat. That late scoring produced the final 8–5 margin. The official inning line was DeNA 1, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 1, 4; Hanshin 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 0, 0.

The final batting totals show 12 hits and three errors for DeNA, compared with 14 hits and one error for Hanshin. NPB lists Baba as the winning pitcher, Kudo as the losing pitcher, and Reynolds with the save. These are the decisions recorded on the official score page.

What the result means for the series

Hanshin entered the Final Stage as the Central League regular-season champion and received a one-win advantage under NPB’s standard format. Before Game 4, DeNA had won the first three games on the field: 2–0 on October 14, 1–0 on October 15, and 4–0 on October 16. The count entering Saturday was therefore DeNA 3, Hanshin 1 when the credited advantage was included.

NPB’s 2026 rules state that the ordinary Final Stage is a six-game series, with one credited win awarded to the regular-season champion; the first club to four wins, including that advantage, advances. The two-win advantage and first-to-five format apply only if the challenger is at least 10 games behind or finished below a .500 winning percentage. The existing series context lists DeNA’s gap as 7.5 games and its winning percentage as .507, so the one-win format applied here. DeNA’s Game 4 victory brought its on-field total to four and ended the stage at a credited 4–1. Under the published rules, the Final Stage winner advances to the Japan Series.

The score also closes the preview question about whether Hanshin could extend the matchup. The Tigers did score five runs and held a two-run advantage after seven innings, but the final official record is a DeNA win. The result does not change the separate facts that Hanshin received the initial advantage or that DeNA had won the first three games; it completes the count with DeNA’s fourth game victory.

Official sources

NPB’s Game 4 score page records the final score, inning totals, game status, game times, attendance, pitcher decisions, and home runs. Its October schedule lists the 14:00 JST start and announced starters. The 2026 Climax Series rules notice explains the Final Stage format. For the time conversion, see the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology’s Japan Standard Time reference.