# 2023 Nippon Professional Baseball season

The 2023 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 74th season of professional baseball in Japan since Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) was reorganized in 1950. There are 12 NPB teams, split evenly between the Central League and Pacific League.

## Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings :
| Rank | Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| 1 | Hanshin Tigers | 143 | 85 | 53 | 5 | .616 | — | 45–23–3 | 40–30–2 |
| 2 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 143 | 74 | 65 | 4 | .532 | 11½ | 44–26–2 | 30–39–2 |
| 3 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 143 | 74 | 66 | 3 | .529 | 12 | 39–30–2 | 35–36–1 |
| 4 | Yomiuri Giants | 143 | 71 | 70 | 2 | .504 | 15½ | 39–30–2 | 32–40–0 |
| 5 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 143 | 57 | 83 | 3 | .407 | 29 | 36–36–0 | 21–47–3 |
| 6 | Chunichi Dragons | 143 | 56 | 82 | 5 | .406 | 29 | 30–39–3 | 26–43–2 |
Pacific League regular season standings :
| Rank | Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| 1 | Orix Buffaloes | 143 | 86 | 53 | 4 | .619 | — | 41–28–3 | 45–25–1 |
| 2 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 143 | 70 | 68 | 5 | .507 | 15½ | 42–27–2 | 28–40–3 |
| 3 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 143 | 71 | 69 | 3 | .507 | 15½ | 39–32–0 | 32–37–3 |
| 4 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 143 | 70 | 71 | 2 | .496 | 17 | 38–33–1 | 32–38–1 |
| 5 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 143 | 65 | 77 | 1 | .458 | 22½ | 33–37–1 | 32–40–0 |
| 6 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 143 | 60 | 82 | 1 | .423 | 27½ | 31–40–0 | 29–42–1 |

### Interleague

Regular season interleague standings :
| Team | G | W | L | T | Win% | GB | Home | Away |
| Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | — | 6–3 | 5–4 |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | — | 4–5 | 7–2 |
| Yomiuri Giants | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | — | 5–4 | 6–3 |
| Orix Buffaloes | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | — | 4–5 | 7–2 |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | .556 | 1 | 4–5 | 6–3 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | .500 | 2 | 5–4 | 4–5 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | .500 | 2 | 4–5 | 5–4 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 18 | 7 | 9 | 2 | .438 | 3 | 5–4 | 2–5−2 |
| Chunichi Dragons | 18 | 7 | 10 | 1 | .412 | 3½ | 2–6−1 | 5–4 |
| Hanshin Tigers | 18 | 7 | 10 | 1 | .412 | 3½ | 4–4−1 | 3–6 |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | .389 | 4 | 3–6 | 4–5 |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | .333 | 5 | 4–5 | 2–7 |
Overall, the Pacific League won 54 games and lost 52 against the Central League, with 2 ties.

## Climax Series

| First Stage | First Stage | First Stage | Final Stage | Final Stage | Final Stage | Japan Series | Japan Series | Japan Series |
| Central League | Central League | Central League | 1 | Hanshin Tigers | 4 | | | |
| 2 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 2 | 2 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 0 | | | |
| 3 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 0 | | | | CL | Hanshin Tigers | 4 |
| | | | | | | PL | Orix Buffaloes | 3 |
| Pacific League | Pacific League | Pacific League | 1 | Orix Buffaloes | 4 | | | |
| 2 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 2 | 2 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 1 | | | |
| 3 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 1 | | | | | | |

### First stage
#### Central League

Hiroshima Toyo Carp won the series, 2−0.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 14 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp − 3, Yokohama DeNA BayStars − 2 (11) | Mazda Stadium | 3:52 | 31,041 |
| 2 | October 15 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp − 4, Yokohama DeNA BayStars − 2 | Mazda Stadium | 3:32 | 31,059 |

#### Pacific League

Chiba Lotte Marines won the series, 2−1.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 14 | Chiba Lotte Marines − 8, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks − 2 | ZOZO Marine Stadium | 3:02 | 29,126 |
| 2 | October 15 | Chiba Lotte Marines − 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks − 3 | ZOZO Marine Stadium | 3:23 | 29,147 |
| 3 | October 16 | Chiba Lotte Marines − 4, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks − 3 (10) | ZOZO Marine Stadium | 4:18 | 29,050 |

### Final stage

The series started with a 1–0 advantage for the first-placed team.

#### Central League

Hanshin Tigers won the series, 4−0.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 18 | Hanshin Tigers − 4, Hiroshima Toyo Carp − 1 | Koshien Stadium | 2:52 | 42,641 |
| 2 | October 19 | Hanshin Tigers − 2, Hiroshima Toyo Carp − 1 | Koshien Stadium | 3:13 | 42,630 |
| 3 | October 20 | Hanshin Tigers − 4, Hiroshima Toyo Carp − 2 | Koshien Stadium | 3:41 | 42,642 |

#### Pacific League

Orix Buffaloes won the series, 4−1.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 18 | Orix Buffaloes − 8, Chiba Lotte Marines − 5 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 3:09 | 35,930 |
| 2 | October 19 | Orix Buffaloes − 5, Chiba Lotte Marines − 6 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 3:22 | 33,634 |
| 3 | October 20 | Orix Buffaloes − 2, Chiba Lotte Marines − 0 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 3:09 | 35,943 |
| 4 | October 21 | Orix Buffaloes − 3, Chiba Lotte Marines − 2 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 2:32 | 35,804 |

### 2023 Japan Series

Hanshin Tigers (4) vs. Orix Buffaloes (3)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 28 | Hanshin Tigers − 8, Orix Buffaloes − 0 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 3:20 | 33,701 |
| 2 | October 29 | Hanshin Tigers − 0, Orix Buffaloes − 8 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 3:09 | 33,584 |
| 3 | October 31 | Orix Buffaloes − 5,Hanshin Tigers− 4 | Koshien Stadium | 3:51 | 40,994 |
| 4 | November 1 | Orix Buffaloes − 3, Hanshin Tigers − 4 | Koshien Stadium | 4:06 | 41,050 |
| 5 | November 2 | Orix Buffaloes − 2, Hanshin Tigers− 6 | Koshien Stadium | 3:28 | 41,031 |
| 6 | November 4 | Hanshin Tigers − 1, Orix Buffaloes − 5 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 3:01 | 33,633 |
| 7 | November 5 | Hanshin Tigers − 7, Orix Buffaloes − 1 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 3:10 | 33,405 |