We had an unusual intentional walk, some big home runs, a big game by another 20-year-old rookie pitcher out of the same first round that gave us Hiroya Miyagi, Roki Sasaki and Yasunobu Okugawa.

The Giants have lost their captain for the time being after Hayato Sakamoto stumbled on the turf Saturday and was deactivated due to medial collateral ligament damage in his right knee.

Seibu’s Wu Nien-ting, and Lotte’s Leonys Martin were also deactivated, Wu after testing positive for COVID-19, Martin, ostensibly because he wasn’t hitting.

On that note, shall we get started?

Lions 2, Buffaloes 1: At Osaka Dome, Seibu snuffed out a pair of late rallies, and Hotaka Yamakawa blasted his league-leading ninth home run off Jesse Biddle (3-1) in the ninth inning.