Takeya Nakamura had the last word on Monday as the Seibu Lions overcame their opponent's impressive comeback to pull out a 10-6 victory against the Orix Buffaloes.
Nakamura's first hit of the game was a big one. The Lions' portly cleanup hitter delivered a two-out, three-run double in the eighth inning to break a 6-6 tie before a rocking full house of 31,898 at Saitama Prefecture's Seibu Prince Dome.
Orix had pulled even in the top of the inning but vaunted Buffaloes setup man Tatsuya Sato (1-3) could not keep it tied. In his second game back after a three week injury layoff, Sato issued two, two-out walks and hit a batter before Nakamura's fly found the gap in right pushed across three runs.