Pacific League Games-over-.500 2026

Pacific League

Best W−L balance (current) SoftBank +37

end of Sep 20, 2026 / npbc.media

As of the end of Sep 20, 2026, the best win-loss balance in the Pacific League belongs to SoftBank (+37). Balance is wins minus losses; zero marks a .500 record.

The balance of wins minus losses - 'games over .500' - is the classic at-a-glance measure of momentum in Japanese baseball. The zero line marks a .500 record; the higher a line sits, the more wins a club has banked. Ties count as neither a win nor a loss, so they leave the balance unchanged. The charts cover six clubs per league, spanning the season from opening day.

Focus on your team

Pick a club to highlight its line and dim the others. Press it again to reset. On the balance chart, picking a team also reveals its projected range band.

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Games over .500

Balance = wins minus losses. The horizontal zero line is the .500 mark. The ▼ marks along the top of the plot show the days the lead changed hands, colored for the new leader.

To the right of the dotted vertical line is the projected range of games above .500 from the outlook for the remaining games. Pick a team above to show its band (light: the range that holds 8 outcomes in 10, dark: 5 in 10, dashed: the guide). All probabilities are model estimates and do not guarantee outcomes.

Pacific League Games over .500 end of Sep 20, 2026 npbc.media Interleague −20 ±0 +20 +40 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Projected range H +37 L +18 F +14 B −7 M −10 E −26 H season high +39 H clinched B L B L H

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Pacific League Games over .500 end of Sep 20, 2026 npbc.media Interleague −20 ±0 +20 +40 Apr Jun Aug Oct Projected range H +37 L +18 F +14 B −7 M −10 E −26 H season high +39 H clinched B L B H
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Standings over time

Daily standings ordered by winning percentage (wins over decisions) at the end of each day. Teams tied on percentage share the same rank, so lines can overlap. Official tiebreakers such as head-to-head records are not applied to the daily series.

Pacific League Standings over time end of Sep 20, 2026 npbc.media 1 2 3 4 5 6 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep H #1 L #2 F #3 B #4 M #5 E #6

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Pacific League Standings over time end of Sep 20, 2026 npbc.media 1 2 3 4 5 6 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep H #1 L #2 F #3 B #4 M #5 E #6
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Win-loss calendar

A tall dark cell is a win, a short light cell a loss, and a thin line a tie - the heights keep the chart readable even without color. Doubleheaders split the day's cell vertically.

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Pacific League Win-loss calendar end of Sep 20, 2026 npbc.media Win Loss Tie SoftBank 84 - 47 - 3 Seibu 74 - 56 - 4 Nippon-Ham 73 - 59 - 3 ORIX 63 - 70 - 2 Lotte 58 - 68 - 3 Rakuten 52 - 78 - 1 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep

Games over .500, past 20 seasons (2006-2025)

Each club's end-of-season balance (wins minus losses). The bold dashed zero line is the .500 mark: above it means more wins than losses, below it more losses. ▲ marks the club's best balance in the window and ▼ its worst, each labeled in the form value (year); ties go to the more recent year. All panels share the same vertical scale, with faint guide lines every 10. Season lengths vary by year.

Games over .500, past 20 seasons (2006-2025) end of Sep 20, 2026 npbc.media Pacific League SoftBank 0 +45 (2017) −13 (2008) 2006 2015 2025 Seibu +35 (2018) −42 (2024) 2006 2015 2025 Nippon-Ham +34 (2016) −23 (2017) 2006 2015 2025 ORIX 0 +33 (2023) −30 (2009) 2006 2015 2025 Lotte +15 (2007) −33 (2017) 2006 2015 2025 Rakuten +23 (2013) −38 (2006) 2006 2015 2025

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Games over .500, past 20 seasons (2006-2025) end of Sep 20, 2026 npbc.media Pacific League SoftBank 0 +45 (2017) −13 (2008) 2006 2015 2025 Seibu +35 (2018) −42 (2024) 2006 2015 2025 Nippon-Ham 0 +34 (2016) −23 (2017) 2006 2015 2025 ORIX +33 (2023) −30 (2009) 2006 2015 2025 Lotte 0 +15 (2007) −33 (2017) 2006 2015 2025 Rakuten +23 (2013) −38 (2006) 2006 2015 2025

Data table

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Year H L F B M E
2025 +35 −14 +26 +8 −28 −7
2024 +42 −42 +15 −14 +5 −5
2023 +2 −12 −22 +33 +2 −1
2022 +11 +4 −22 +11 −4 −2
2021 −2 −15 −13 +15 +10 +4
2020 +31 ±0 −9 −23 +3 −2
2019 +14 +18 −8 −14 −1 +3
2018 +22 +35 +8 −8 −22 −24
2017 +45 +18 −23 −16 −33 +14
2016 +29 −12 +34 −26 +4 −16
2015 +41 ±0 +17 −19 +4 −26
2014 +18 −14 +5 +18 −10 −16
2013 +4 +8 −14 −7 +6 +23
2012 +2 +9 +15 −20 −5 ±0
2011 +42 +1 +7 +1 −25 −5
2010 +13 +13 +7 −2 +8 −17
2009 +9 ±0 +22 −30 −15 +11
2008 −13 +12 +4 +7 +3 −11
2007 +7 −10 +19 −15 +15 −8
2006 +19 +26 +28 −29 −5 −38

For the day-by-day path within a season, see the yearly archive pages. Pennant race archive (last 50 seasons)

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Season highlights

Pacific League Longest win streak: SoftBank, 9 in a row Best games over .500 (in-season peak): SoftBank at +39 Days in first place: SoftBank (94 days)

Days in first place are counted per day with games played.

What 'games over .500' means

The balance is wins minus losses: a club '10 games over' has ten more wins than losses, while a negative balance is nicknamed 'debt' (shakkin) in Japanese baseball. Each win adds one and each loss subtracts one, which makes momentum swings easier to follow than winning percentage.

Ties count as neither result and leave the balance untouched. But NPB standings are decided by winning percentage with ties excluded from the denominator, so the number of ties still affects the order - which is why the balance order and the standings order can differ.

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How to read the charts

Each league chart draws six lines in club colors, with the abbreviation and current balance attached directly to the end of each line. The horizontal zero line marks .500, and the lightly shaded span is the interleague period. Badges on the chart mark the season-high balance and a recent lead change. The small ▼ marks along the top edge record every day the lead changed hands, in the color of the new leader.

Every chart can be saved as an image. The saved image keeps the title, the data date and the source (npbc.media), so a share always carries its own context.

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More balance but lower in the table

Because NPB standings run on winning percentage, a club can hold a bigger balance yet sit lower in the table: a team with more ties has fewer decisions in the denominator, so the same balance yields a higher percentage. Down the stretch, the tie count can matter as much as the balance itself.

Frequently asked questions

What do 'savings' and 'debt' mean in Japanese baseball?

They are Japanese baseball idioms for the win-loss balance: 'savings' (chokin) is a positive balance and 'debt' (shakkin) a negative one. Ten games of savings means ten more wins than losses.

How do ties affect the balance?

They do not move it - a tie counts as neither a win nor a loss. But in the winning percentage that decides the standings, ties drop out of the denominator, so a club with more ties posts a higher percentage at the same balance.

Why can the balance order differ from the standings?

Because standings use winning percentage (wins over decisions). A club with more ties has a smaller denominator and posts a higher percentage at the same balance, so a club with a smaller balance can still rank higher.

Where can I see a club's momentum?

The slope of a club's line is its momentum: winning streaks tilt the line upward, losing streaks downward. Together with the season-high badge and the lead-change marks, the recent slope reveals form swings the standings alone hide.

Can I see past seasons' charts?

Yes - the pennant race archive (last 50 seasons) carries balance charts for past seasons (for years with available data). See the link at the bottom of this page.

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