The next batter, Yurisbel Gracial, was hit by pitch to load the bases setting the stage to allow a run to score on a groundout by Yanagita. Aizawa broke the tie and gave the Carp the lead in the sixth inning but the Hawks tied it up again in the seventh when Akashi hit a solo home run. In the bottom of the tenth inning, Yuki Yanagita won the game with a walk-off home run off of Carp closing pitcher Shota Nakazaki. The win extended the Hawks' record-setting home winning streak to twelve, and the Pacific League's home winning streak in the Japan Series to fifteen. The series shifted back to Hiroshima for Game 6. Rick van den Hurk shut out the Carp for six innings. Tetsuro Nishida drove in a run for SoftBank in the fourth inning with a squeeze bunt that scored Yuki Yanagita. Yurisbel Gracial hit a solo home run in the fifth inning. Relief pitchers Shota Takeda, Shinya Kayama, and Yuito Mori completed the shutout of the Carp, as SoftBank repeated as Japan Series champs. Hawks' catcher Takuya Kai, who set a Japan Series record with six consecutive caught stealings, won the Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award.  2018 Japan Series (4–1–1): Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) beat Hiroshima Toyo Carp (CL).