The New York Yankees signed Ichiro Suzuki from the Seattle Mariners last night - then immediately fielded him against his old side.
The former American League MVP, who spent his entire 12-year career with the Mariners, was traded in exchange for cash and a pair of minor-league pitchers just three hours before their match at Safeco Field.
The Japan star was greeted by cheers as he faced his former teammates wearing his new Yankees colours for the first in a three-game series, before going 1 for 4 with his 16th stolen base to help the Yankees record a 4-1 over Seattle.
"It's a very unusual set of circumstances, it goes without saying," said Mariners manager Eric Wedge.
Hiroki Kuroda (10-7) allowed three hits over seven sharp innings to help the Yankees bounce back from a four-game sweep in Oakland. The right-hander struck out nine and walked one.
Alex Rodriguez hit his 15th home run this season - the 644th of his career and 299th as a Yankee - in the eighth. He also had a double in the fourth and scored twice.
Mark Teixeira had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and an RBI.
The Washington Nationals defeated the New York Mets 8-2 as Bryce Harper homered his first time in the city and then hit a tiebreaking single to key a six-run burst in the 10th inning.
Shortstop Ruben Tejada's error on a potential double-play ball set up the big 10th. Ryan Zimmerman hit a three-run double and Michael Morse added a two-run homer as the National League East-leading Nationals broke away.
The Mets lost for the 10th time in 11 games a day after giving up five runs in the 12th inning to lose 8-3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Miami Marlins won 2-1 over the Atlanta Braves as Josh Johnson pitched six scoreless innings and Emilio Bonifacio homered.
Steve Cishek earned his third save to help Miami end a five-game losing streak as four relievers also combined to pitch the final three innings for the home side.
The Chicago Cubs defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 as Jeff Samardzija gave up one hit over eight innings and Alfonso Soriano hit two run-scoring doubles.
Samardzija allowed only a fourth-inning infield single to Andrew McCutchen, the leading hitter in the majors with a .373 average.
The Philadelphia Phillies edged the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 as Ty Wigginton hit a sacrifice fly to cap a four-run rally in the ninth inning against Francisco Rodriguez.
The Phillies were 0-42 when trailing after eight innings before coming back against Rodriguez (2-5), who replaced John Axford as the closer last week.
The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St Louis Cardinals 5-3, Cincinnati were 8-3 victors over Houston and San Francisco triumphed 7-1 over San Diego.
The Chicago White Sox ended a five-game losing streak with a 7-4 victory against the Minnesota Twins as Adam Dunn hit his majors-leading 29th homer and Gavin Floyd went six innings after coming off the disabled list.
Paul Konerko and Alex Rios also homered off Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano (3-10) to help the White Sox win in their first home game following a 3-7 road trip after the All-Star break that knocked them out of first place in the American League Central.
The Texas Rangers dominated the Boston Red Sox to win 9-1 as Scott Feldman, starting because of Roy Oswalt's tight back, threw seven strong innings.
Feldman (4-6) won his fourth straight decision and pitched his longest outing since throwing eight innings on June 2, 2010. He gave up one earned run and seven hits with five strikeouts.
Justin Masterson, backed by three double plays, pitched 7 1-3 strong innings to help the Cleveland Indians beat Baltimore Orioles 3-1 and avoid a four-game sweep.
Masterson (7-8) struck out six as Cleveland broke a four-game losing streak. The right-hander gave up only one run and seven hits, improving to 5-2 over his last eight starts.
Elsewhere Arizona defeated Colorado 6-3 and the Los Angeles Angels won 6-3 against Kansas City.
