Over the past weekend in Japan, the only thing hotter than the weather, was the play of a trio of foreign NPB stars.
None may have been hotter than Japhet Amador. The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles slugger caught fire for the Pacific League leaders over the weekend with a display the league's youngest franchise hasn't seen before.
Amador got started on Saturday against the Orix Buffaloes, going deep in three consecutive at-bats in an 8-7 win. That made him the first player in franchise history (since 2005) to achieve that particular feat in one game.