On June 13, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks clinched their second interleague title in two years and their fourth since interleague play began in 2005. The Hawks had a magic number of two coming into play, but their series victory was sealed with an 11-4 drubbing of the Yakult Swallows coupled with second-place Rakuten’s defeat at the hands of third-place Hanshin. This was the first time the Hawks won the series on their home turf, and their four titles make them the winningest team in interleague play. “We won because the players played hard each and every game,” said Coach Akiyama. He added, “We are aiming to be number one, so I hope this is a good motivator.” Source: Nishinippon Shimbun, June 14
