{
  "id": 14066920,
  "title": "Baseball: Fighters beat Lions, reach PL Climax Series final stage",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/baseball-fighters-beat-lions-reach-pl-climax-series-final-stage",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-12T23:00:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Mainichi",
    "slug": "the-mainichi",
    "url": "https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20261013/p2g/00m/0sp/004000c"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On Monday, the Nippon Ham Fighters defeated the Seibu Lions 4-1 in the first stage of the Pacific League Climax Series, advancing to the final stage. The Fighters, who placed third in the regular season, eliminated the second-placed Lions in a best-of-three series at Belluna Dome. After splitting the first two games, the Fighters scored four runs in Game 3 while the Lions managed only one run. Fighters' starter Hiromi Ito allowed just one run over five innings, and four relievers shut out the Lions. Yuki Nomura drove in the opening run with an RBI single, and Chusei Mannami and Taiki Narama added a solo homer and a sacrifice fly, respectively. The losing Lions will next face the PL pennant-winning Hawks in Fukuoka for a spot in the Japan Series against the winner of the Central League Climax Series. The Hawks, already the regular-season winners, will enter the postseason with a two-win advantage over their opponents in the revised format. The first team to reach five wins will advance to the Japan Series.",
  "summary": "TOKOROZAWA, Japan (Kyodo) -- The Nippon Ham Fighters beat the Seibu Lions 4-1 in Game 3 of the Pacific League Climax Series first stage on Monday, adv",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}