The first enforcement of Nippon Professional Baseball's "new" collision rule gave the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters the lead en route to an 8-4 victory over the Seibu Lions in the Pacific League on Friday.
Trailing 3-2 in the sixth inning, the Fighters scored two runners on a wild pitch to take the lead after the trailing runner was originally ruled out on a fairly innocuous tag at the plate by Lions starter Kona Takahashi. Instead, the ruling was overturned when umpires determined Takahashi had obstructed the plate without the ball.
"I've been told his left foot was blocking the plate slightly," Seibu manager Norio Tanabe said. "The pitchers don't cover the plate that much to be used to this change. If they're going to call it that way, you have to learn to do it that way."