Bailey Stephens of MLB.com has an update from our baseball friends overseas.
The Chibba Lotte Marines defeated the Chunichi Dragons 8-7 on Sunday to win the Japan Series -- a series that featured the longest game in the league’s history.
The Marines and Dragons battled to a 2-2 tie* after six hours and 43 minutes in Game 6 Saturday.
That led to Sunday’s decisive Game 7, whenYoshifumi Okada knocked in the go-ahead run with an RBI triple in the top of the 12th to lead the Marines to the club’s first Japan Series title since 2005. Current ESPN analyst and active managerial candidate Bobby Valentine was that 2005 team’s manager.
The Marines finished third place in the Pacific League regular season standings, but had a Giants-like run through the playoffs.
*Bud Selig was not spotted in the stands. No word yet on whether he called for the cease in action from another locale.
