The Fukuoka Daiei Hawks got a little help from the strike.
The Pacific League has decided there will be no replacements for the games affected by the players' strike, assuring Daiei a first-place finish in the regular season standings and giving it an advantage in the league's playoff series.
Baseball officials said Saturday the executive committee of Nippon Professional Baseball will decide how to deal with the 12 games scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at a meeting Tuesday.
The Central League has yet to outline its policy but its regular-season schedule makes it difficult to make room for replacement games, which are allowed only on demand from the players.
While some officials argue for the invalidity of all team and individual records, statistics and titles for the regular season, it appears likely the NPB will allow them to stand valid, the officials said.
In the PL, Daiei has a 4 1/2-game lead over the Seibu Lions after Friday's games and five regular-season games are left for each team.
The cancellation of the two games affected by the ongoing strike makes it impossible for Seibu to catch the Hawks.
The top finisher in the PL books its place in the second stage of the playoffs to meet the winner of the first stage, which will be played between the second- and third-place teams.
The winner of the second stage will advance to the Japan Series championship to take on the Central League champion.
While the Japanese baseball players association has indicated it may walk out of all remaining weekend games in September, it has not outlined any plans should the strike carry into October, when the PL playoffs and Japan Series are scheduled to take place.