New import Frank Schwindel had three hits in his Orix Buffaloes debut, breaking an eighth-inning tie with an RBI single to lift the Japan Series champion to a 2-1 win over the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in the Pacific League on Wednesday night.
The 30-year-old, who came to Japan with 528 career MLB at-bats under his belt, said he arrived at Kyocera Dome Osaka not knowing he would be in the lineup.
Orix's Daiki Tajima (2-1) allowed a run over eight innings, and the Buffaloes tied it on Yuma Tongu's seventh-inning pinch-hit single. Schwindel plated catcher Tomoya Mori in the eighth inning.
Mori, the Buffaloes' big free agent acquisition over the winter, applied the tag on a play at the plate as a superb throw from substitute right fielder Yuya Oda preserved the win.
"He (Tajima) pitched a great game, an amazing play at home," Schwindel said. "This is a lot of fun and an amazing first day."
"I didn't even know I was playing today. And the manager told me I was in there, so that was a good decision by him."
Elsewhere in the PL, the Seibu Lions defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 3-2, while the Chiba Lotte Marines beat the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 4-3. The Marines improved to 5-0 this season against Nippon Ham.
In the Central League, Naoki Yoshikawa had a sacrifice fly and a two-run home run in the Yomiuri Giants' 5-1 win over the DeNA BayStars, while the Hanshin Tigers' Koji Chikamoto tripled twice, scored twice and drove in two in a 6-1 victory over the Hiroshima Carp.