The first stage was a best-of-three series between the second-place Chiba Lotte Marines and the third-place Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
Despite slugging outfielder Masataka Yoshida leaving the team in the offseason to play in Major League Baseball, Orix was still able to lead in the standings throughout the majority of the season and clinched the title relatively early compared to the previous two seasons.
It was the first three consecutive Pacific League championships since the Seibu Lions won five straight between 1990 and 1994.
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks clinched a playoff berth on October 7th,[3] however the seeding and the final team wasn't decided until the last game of the season between the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
[5] The two teams had met in the postseason five times prior to this year, with the Marines only winning two of the five series.