In today’s blog, there are notes about a new stadium sponsor in Fukuoka, where apparently it is no longer enough to PayPay, and a beefcake approach to cheesecake as a ballpark food choice at Fighters’ home games in May. But first, Thursday’s games, where a guy who grew up idolizing Daisuke Matsuzaka and dreaming of pitching for the Seibu Lions as a child in Brazil earned his first win for the club, the Rakuten Eagles’ “Lions Club” left a mark on the Nippon Ham Fighters, a couple of Giants stars from the previous decade had a night, and a Swallows player went from goat to hero.

Thursday’s games

Lions 3, Buffaloes 2: At Osaka UFO Dome, right-hander Bo Takahashi (1-1) earned his first win in Japan for the Seibu Lions, the team he followed as a child in Brazil, allowing a run over 5-2/3 innings.

Takeya Nakamura, whose leadoff homer the night before sparked a late three-run comeback, completed by a Yuji Kaneko RBI single, kept things rolling in the first by plating Kaneko with a one-out double off Luis Castillo (1-2). Seibu’s Jesus Aguilar singled in two in the third and Albert Abreu struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to record his sixth save.

The Lions’ win snapped a four-game losing streak, while Orix lost its first game after a four-game unbeaten run. Nakamura became the first 40-year-old in Japanese pro baseball to double in five consecutive games.

Nakamura, who really hates to mince words, even when hero interview protocols call for him to tell white lies was asked about the record.

“Whatever,” he said. “I don’t care. Records like that I just don’t care. I want to hit home runs, not doubles.”

“I grew up watching Japanese baseball. My idol was Daisuke Matsuzaka, so I grew up watching him with Seibu. Being here with the Seibu Lions is a blessing.”

— Rodrigo Hitoshi “Bo” Kaimochi Takahashi on July 2, 2023