YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) -- Masayuki Kuwahara led the DeNA BayStars to their first Japan Series baseball title since 1998 and third in franchise history with a 11-2 rout of the SoftBank Hawks in Game 6 on Sunday.

Kuwahara, the series MVP, and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo drove in seven runs between them in the clincher as the pre-series underdog BayStars took a 3-0 lead in the second inning and put the game away with a seven-run fifth at Yokohama Stadium.

DeNA became only the second team to win the Japan Series after finishing third in the regular season, and first since the 2010 Lotte Marines. The BayStars also become the Japan Series champions with the lowest regular-season winning percentage (.507).

Tsutsugo opened the scoring, leading off DeNA's three-run second inning with a home run. A Yasutaka Tobashira single and a Keito Mori double set the table for Kuwahara, who grounded a two-out single past short to make it a 3-0 game.

Arihara negotiated the meat of the order after a third-inning leadoff single, but a two-out hit batsman and two walks forced in the BayStars' fourth run.

The Hawks broke their 29-inning scoreless streak in the fourth, when Kenta Imamiya reached on his second hit, and Yuki Yanagita homered to dead center.

With DeNA's starting pitchers each going seven innings in Games 3, 4 and 5, the BayStars' well-rested bullpen entered in the fifth.

In the fifth, Kuwahara drew a one-out bases-loaded walk from Carter Stewart Jr., the Hawks' Game 3 starter, who allowed five runs in one-third of an inning, and exited after Koki Kajiwara singled in DeNA's sixth run. Tsutsugo delivered the big blow in the seven-run inning with a three-run double.

Kuwahara, who went 4-for-26 in the BayStars' 2017 Japan Series defeat, with two runs and one RBI, entered Game 6 with nine hits from 23 at-bats, three doubles, a home run, four runs and six RBIs, while making a number of good grabs in center field for the champs.

"A lot of us had bitter memories from 2017, and we were able to erase those," Kuwahara said. "This championship feels like a dream."

"Back then, I was not able to drive in my teammates. This time, we played fantastic baseball as a team. What a great team this is."

The key to the series was DeNA's ability to shut down SoftBank's offense after DeNA dropped Games 1 and 2 at home, behind three incredible starting pitching efforts from Katsuki Azuma, Anthony Kay and Andre Jackson.

All three pitched seven innings on the home turf of Japan's most potent offense and allowed a combined total of one run.

In addition to Kuwahara as MVP, Tsutsugo, Kay and Jackson were honored as outstanding performers, as was the Hawks' Imamiya, whose batting and sensational play at shortstop kept the Hawks as competitive as they were.

"Against such a powerful opponent as SoftBank, there was no way for us to win unless we played our absolute best in every game," BayStars manager Daisuke Miura said.

"As a team we spoke about giving all we had in each and every game. This championship is the result of that effort."

(By Jim Allen)