Rookie Shota Morishita's two-run triple keyed a six-run eighth-inning rally as the Hanshin Tigers beat the Orix Buffaloes 6-2 in Game 5 to lead the Japan Series three games to two.
With one more win, the Central League champion Tigers will capture their first Japan Series title since 1985 and only their second pro baseball championship in their long history.
Morishita turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead by tripling to left-center off flame-throwing reliever Yuki Udagawa, and Yusuke Oyama followed with an RBI single at Koshien Stadium.
Udagawa, a member of Japan's 2023 World Baseball Classic-winning team, was pitching for the fourth straight game.
Seishiro Sakamoto then tripled in two insurance runs.
Orix second baseman Marwin Gonzalez hit a solo home run in the fourth, and an error by Morishita in right pushed the Buffaloes' lead to 2-0 in the seventh.
The Pacific League champions appeared to have total control of the game after left-handed starter Daiki Tajima threw seven shutout innings.
