Nick Martinez entered his first interleague contest in Japan with an overwhelming sense of familiarity.
The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters pitcher said he'd watched so much tape of the Yomiuri Giants it "felt like I'd faced them before." As for pitching at Tokyo Dome, good things just seem to happen for him there.
Martinez pitched into the ninth inning, Kensuke Kondo and Haruki Nishikawa provided some run support with a pair of two-run homers and the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters won again in their home-away-from-home, earning a 5-3 victory over the Big Egg's regular tenants in front of a crowd of 46,786 on Tuesday night. The game was the interleague opener for both teams.