Hawks vs. Fighters Game 2: Kurihara's Walk-Off Slam Seals 6–2 Win

The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks defeated the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 6–2 in Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage Game 2 on Thursday, October 15, 2026. Ryoya Kurihara ended the game with a ninth-inning grand slam at Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan.

Postgame update, October 15, 2026: NPB now marks Game 2 as finished. The official start was 6:00 p.m. Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+09:00), or 09:00 UTC; the game ended at 9:04 p.m. JST, or 12:04 UTC, on the same date. This update replaces the earlier pregame status while retaining the starting-pitcher background and Japanese broadcast listings.

Hawks vs. Fighters Game 2: Confirmed Result

The official NPB Game 2 page confirms the result and finishing time. Japan's UTC+09:00 offset applies to both timestamps; neither is a broadcast opening time or an article publication time.

How Kurihara Finished the Game

The contest was tied 2–2 entering the bottom of the ninth. NPB's official play-by-play records an infield single by Shoji to open the inning. Masaki's groundout moved the runner to second, and Shuto followed with a single to put runners at the corners.

Nippon-Ham intentionally walked Kondo, loading the bases with one out. Kurihara then drove a 1–1 pitch from Fukushima over the right-center-field fence for a walk-off grand slam. The four-run swing explains why a game that remained level into the ninth ended with a four-run margin.

Earlier, the Fighters had scored twice in the first inning. SoftBank answered with two runs in the third, including an RBI double by Masaki and an RBI single by Kondo. Neither side scored again until the final swing. Readers revisiting the finish can follow the ninth-inning sequence in NPB's inning-by-inning record rather than relying only on the final score.

Starting Pitchers: What Uwasawa and Kitayama Delivered

Naoyuki Uwasawa and Koki Kitayama were the Game 2 starters, as anticipated in the preview. Both allowed two earned runs and left without a decision. The official batting and pitching results provide their completed lines:

SoftBank's bullpen followed Uwasawa with three scoreless innings. Osuna, Matsumoto, and Sugiyama each worked one inning without allowing a hit or a walk. Sugiyama received the win, while Fukushima took the loss. The Hawks finished with eight hits to the Fighters' four, and neither team committed an error.

That distinction matters when reading the pitching matchup: the starting pitchers kept the game close, but the decisive runs came against the bullpen. A starter's season record should not be mistaken for the outcome of his individual playoff appearance.

The Regular-Season Comparison

Both starters are right-handers. Their 2026 regular-season figures, retained from the preview and checked against NPB's individual records, remain useful background:

Sources: NPB's records for Uwasawa and Kitayama. These are regular-season totals, separate from the Game 2 statistics above.

Uwasawa's record includes multiple seasons with Nippon-Ham through 2023, giving the assignment an additional connection to his former club. Kitayama entered the postseason after a season featuring three complete games and two shutouts. Those details explain the interest in the matchup without replacing the evidence of what happened in this game.

How the Result Builds on Game 1

SoftBank had already won the opener 6–4. In the official Game 1 box score, the Hawks overturned a 3–1 deficit with five runs in the fourth inning. Nippon-Ham collected 11 hits to SoftBank's eight but committed two errors, while the Hawks had none.

The opener also required seven SoftBank pitchers, compared with four for Nippon-Ham. That was the basis for the preview's focus on the starting pitchers' ability to provide innings. Game 2 produced a different pattern: an early exchange of runs, a long stretch without scoring, and a ninth-inning finish.

The two box scores show why hit totals and final margins need context. Game 1 turned on a five-run inning; Game 2 remained tied until a single bases-loaded plate appearance ended it. These are observations from the completed games, not predictions about the next matchup or assumptions about any reliever's availability.

Japan Broadcast Listings: Game 2 Coverage Record

The Hawks' official broadcast schedule lists the following coverage for October 15, 2026. The times are scheduled program starts, retained for reference now that the game is over. Every Japan time below uses JST (UTC+09:00); every UTC entry is also October 15.

TNC and STV were scheduled to begin after first pitch. These listings establish scheduled Japanese coverage, not the availability of a full replay. Check the relevant provider for archived video, subscription requirements, and regional access before paying. No overseas or English-language replay has been verified for this update.

Where to Check the Completed Game

Use NPB's Game 2 page for the final status, its play-by-play tab for the scoring sequence, and its box score for individual performances. The site's announced-starters page has already advanced to October 16, so it should no longer be used as a standalone record of the October 15 assignments. The completed Game 2 box score preserves those assignments and the subsequent substitutions.

The earlier pregame checklist is now superseded by the official result. For anyone arriving through a start-time or television search, Game 2 is complete; the broadcast table above is historical information, while the linked NPB records document the action.