Yakult Swallows Roast Yomiuri Giants

The Yakult Swallows (3-0) pounded the Yomiuri Giants (0-3) 10-2 Sunday at Jingu Stadium to open the season with a three-game sweep in Central League action of the Nippon Professional Baseball League.

Norichika Aoki smacked four hits and the Swallows broke open a 2-2 deadlock in the sixth with three runs with Yasushi Iihara’s two-run double being the big blow. Masakazu Fukukawa went deep with the bases loaded in the fifth inning to seal the deal and provide southpaw reliever Masaru Sato (1-0) his first career win.

The Hanshin Tigers (3-0) polished off their three-game sweep against Yokohama (0-3) with a 7-0 whitewashing at the Kyocera Dome as Shinobu Fukuhara (1-0) stifled the BayStars to record his first shutout in three seasons.

Takahiro Arai went 3-for-3 with five RBIs, including a sixth inning two-run double, and Fukuhara fanned five while surrendering seven hits to top Kentaro Takasaki (0-1) who suffered the loss.

Chunichi starter Takashi Ogasawara (1-0) combined with three relievers to lead the Dragons (2-0-1) to their second straight win over Hiroshima (0-2-1) 4-0 this past Sunday at the Nagoya Dome. Ogasawara tossed five scoreless frames allowing four hits before the trio of Kazuki Yoshimi, Atsushi Makazato and Akimfumi Takahashi finished the job.

The Dragons opened the scoring in the first inning when Tyrone Woods ripped an RBI double. Masahiko Morino connected for his second home run of the season off Masayuki Hasegawa (0-1) in the fourth to make the score 2-0 before teammate Norihiro Nakamura two-run shot in the sixth made the final tally 4-0.

In Pacific League action on Sunday, the Rakuten Eagles (4-4) captured their fourth straight victory with a 3-1 win over the Nippon Ham Fighters (3-5) at Kleenex Stadium as Hideki Asai (1-1) won his first game of the season.

Jose Fernandez stroked the game-winner in the fifth, a two-run single, and young right-hander Koji Aoyama registered the final five outs to record his first career save. Nippon Ham starter Ryan Glynn (0-2) suffered the loss after a forgettable fifth frame when he commited an error and a balk.

Seibu import Matt Kinney (1-1) tossed seven strong innings to earn his first win in Japan as the Lions (4-5) banged three home runs in a 5-1 win against the Softbank Hawks (6-3) on Sunday at the Seibu Dome.

Kinney was dominant in fanning nine with no walks while surrendering one run on just three singles. Life was much different for Softbank rookie starter Shota Oba – who threw a complete game shutout in his first pro start - who was tagged for long balls by Hiroyuki Nakajima, Hiram Bocachica and Toru Hosokawa.

The Orix Buffaloes (4-5) snapped a four-game losing skid with a 4-1 win over the Chiba Lotte Marines (5-4) on Sunday at Chiba Marine Stadium as Hidetaka Kawagoe (1-0) picked up his first win of the season.
The Buffaloes broke open a 1-1 tie with two outs in the eight when Masahiro Abe laced a single before Tuffy Rhodes smacked his first homer of the season - a two-run blast - off submarine reliever Shunsuke Watanbe (1-1).

Kawagoe scattered eight hits over seven innings to notch the victory and closer Daisuke Kato recorded the final three outs to earn his fourth save of the season.

(Courtesy of JapanBall.com)