The Saitama Seibu Lions captured the first interleague championship in franchise history on Tuesday night with a 1-0 victory over the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium.
The Lions finished interleague play with a 14-3-1 record, good for an .824 winning percentage, the best mark in Nippon Professional Baseball since the format was introduced in 2005. With Seibu’s triumph, every Pacific League club has now won interleague at least once, and the Lions became the sixth different champion of the 2020s.
The Pacific League also continued its dominance over the Central League, compiling a 65-39 record to prevail for the 16th time in 21 seasons. The Yomiuri Giants were the only Central League club to finish with a winning record, a surge that pushed them into first place ahead of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and defending pennant-winning Hanshin Tigers, both of whom struggled during interleague play.
Since a sluggish 7-12-1 start — which was par for the course given that the Lions had finished fifth or sixth in the league for three consecutive years — second-year manager Fumiya Nishiguchi has guided his club to an NPB-best 41-23-2 record.
Offensively, the Lions have received key contributions from Tyler Nevin, Shinya Hasegawa, Natsuo Takizawa, Masayuki Kuwahara, Taiga Hirasawa, and Yuto Koga, among others. Nevin has led the way since returning from injury at the start of May, posting a 1.007 OPS with 11 home runs in just 32 games.
The group reflects the diversity of sources behind Seibu’s turnaround: Nevin is a foreign import, Kuwahara arrived as a domestic free agent, Hirasawa was acquired through the Active Player Draft, and Hasegawa, Takizawa, and Koga are homegrown talents. Collectively, the Lions rank fourth in NPB with a 105 OPS+ and lead the league with 30 Defensive Runs Saved.
On the pitching side, there were questions before the season about how the rotation would hold up without ace Tatsuya Imai, but the rest of the staff has answered emphatically. Kaima Taira has been outstanding in his return as a starter, posting a 0.82 ERA over 10 starts. Kona Takahashi has bounced back in a major way with a 1.08 ERA in 10 starts, while Chihiro Sumida has taken another step forward with a 2.36 ERA across 10 starts.
The bullpen has also settled in after a shaky start, with rookie Hibiki Shinohara, Trey Wingenter, and Hiroshi Kaino establishing themselves as an electric late-inning trio. As a team, the Lions lead NPB by a wide margin with a 135 ERA+.
Seibu now leads the defending Japan Series champion Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks by 3.5 games in the Pacific League standings, with the Orix Buffaloes and Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters both 5.5 games back.
Back in 2024, the Lions finished 49-91-3, setting a franchise record for losses. This year, they are already nearing that win total with the All-Star break still a month away.
