The past week was one of returns in Japanese baseball.
Interleague play is back, with the annual competition between the Central and Pacific Leagues having kicked off on June 4.
So is Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks pitcher Rick van den Hurk, who returned from a nagging ailment, and his teammate Tsuyoshi Wada as well. Ditto for Yomiuri Giants hurlers Scott Mathieson, who got a hero's welcome at Tokyo Dome Saturday, and Tomoyuki Sugano.
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