Hanshin rookie lefthander Tatsuya Kojima, the successor to Kei Igawa's number 29, had some trouble putting hitters away against Hiroshima Sunday, but the Carp didn't do that much with him and the Tigers rallied for three runs in the third to top the fish 4-2. Kojima thus became the first fresh off the amateur rolls hurler for the Osaka favorites to make his first pro appearance a winning start in the season opening series in 52 years with his five innings of two run, five hit ball where he struckout five and walked two on 96 pitches. . 

Kan Otake started for Hiroshima and was rather typical for him, and that ain't good. He was tagged for four runs on nine hits in five innings. 

Tigers shortstop Takashi Toritani leadoff the bottom of the first with a single to right and went to second on a sacrifice and then to third on a wild pitch. First baseman Andy Sheets immediately cashed Toritani in with a single to center for a 1-0 lead. 

Hiroshima then put two men on in the top of the second with one out, but Kojima stepped it up and fanned the next two men to escape any damage. 

Toritani subsequently ignited another uprising in the third when he singled to left and moved to second on a groundout. Sheets doubled to center to send Toritani in. One out later, third baseman Makoto Imaoka singled to right and Sheets motored home.  Otake plunked rightfielder Osamu Hamanaka. Catcher Akihiro Yano singled to center and that converted Imaoka to hike it to 4-0. 

Hanshin didn't do anything with a two on, two out opportunity in the fourth and would get only one more hit the rest of the contest. 

Kojima would have his second and final jam in the fifth. Otake doubled to left with one away and, one out later, second baseman Akihiro Higashide singled to center. Leftfielder Tomonori Maeda rifled a shot off the glove of second baseman Kentaro Sekimoto for a hit and Otake crossed and Higashide sprinted into third. Third baseman Takahiro Arai beat out a ground ball and Higashide crossed to cut it to 4-2. Rightfielder Shigenobu Shima grounded to first and they would produce only two more hits for the duration, both doubles, and couldn't move those men before Kyuji Fujikawa struckout the side in the ninth to ice it. 

Kojima, who had his parents at the game, is the first rookie moundsman to garner a win in 2007. The last time in NPB that a first year hillsman has won his debut appearance in a season opening series start was Takeo Kawamura of Yokohama in 1997. Kojima is also just the third fresh face since the draft started in 1965 to make a start for Hanshin in a season opening series, the other two being Satoshi Funaki in 1996 and Atsushi Nomi in 2005. 

The man who did what Kojima pulled off 52 years ago was Kazunori Nishimura on April 5, 1955 at Hamamatsu. 

Toritani, who was 3-4 to raise his average to .444, owns Otake to the tune of a .455 average. 

For Hanshin, Sheets was 2-4 and is at .182. Lin Wei-tzu was 0-1 in a pinch hit appearance and is at .667. 

Five Yomiuri players drove in two runs apiece as they took their first series of the 2007 campaign Sunday 10-1 over Yokohama at Yokohama Stadium. Giants starter Hisanori Takahashi sidestepped some pressure in the middle innings to twirl seven shutout innings on six hits while striking out five and walking three for his first win. 

Ex-Yomiuri lefty Kimiyasu Kudoh started for Yokohama in his record tying 26th season and had his head handed to him, as he permitted seven runs, six earned, on ten hits in 3.1 innings to get hung with the loss mainly because he couldn't throw strikes with his breaking stuff. 

The visitors got off on the good foot in the first when leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani got an 11th pitch of the at bat hanging forkball and raked it over the leftfield wall for a 1-0 lead. 

The Bay Stars had two on and two out in the bottom half and that disappeared on a strikeout. 

Yomiuri had two on and one out in the second and frittered that away. But in the third, rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi singled to right and advanced to second on a wild pickoff throw. Tani doubled to rightcenter and redeemed Takahashi. Third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara singled to right and plated Tani to make it 3-0. 

They would subsequently put it away in the fourth, as Kudoh hit catcher Shinnosuke Abe with a delivery and shortstop Tomohiro Nioka, in his return to the lineup, singled to right. Hollins doubled to leftcenter and that propelled Abe across. Takahashi doubled into the leftfield corner and picked up two RBIs. One out later, Tani, who would finish a triple short of the cycle, singled to right and knocked Kudoh out of the contest. Yuji Yoshimi was summoned from the bullpen and Ogasawara doubled to rightcenter to chase Takahashi in and stretch it to 6-0. 

The Stars would have two on and nobody out in the fifth, but Takahashi induced a double play ball and a strikeout to wriggle out of the dilemma. 

Takahashi would face another problem in the sixth when Yokohama put two on with two out, but a groundout deep sixed that chance. 

The Giants posted another run in the seventh, as Joselo Diaz walked both first baseman Seung-yeop Lee and second baseman Luis Gonzalez. One out later, the runners moved up on a wild pitch. Reserve shortstop Makoto Kosaka flied out to left and Lee tagged up and hustled in to make it 7-0. 

Yomiuri collected their last two tallies due to wildness by the Yokohama relief corps in the ninth. Shigetoshi Yamakita walked Ogasawara and, one out later, after Michiomi Yoshihara was called in from the pen, sub second baseman Takuya Kiimura and Abe both walked to pack the sacks. Kosaka walked to force Ogasawara in and so did Hollins to push Kimura in to raise it to 9-0. Takumi Nasuno was passed the ball and he lured the Giants order into a flyout and a strikeout to end the inning. 

Shintaro Yoshitake was inserted for the ninth for Yomiuri for his debut with the club and was taken over the rightcenterfield wall by leftfielder Takanori Suzuki to make it 9-1. Yoshitake retired three of the next four men and that was the ballgame. 

The Giants were 0-17 with runners in scoring position coming in. 

Yushi Aida submarined his way to a scoreless eighth. Thus former Yakult hurler Teruo Aida and Yushi become the first father-son combo ever in Japanese history to have an appearance in a top level game. There have been a few brothers, most notably the Noguchis (including Jiro and Akira), but no dads and sons until now. 

Umpire Hitoshi Watarida worked his 2000th game, the fourth active umpire to attain that mark and the 28th in Central League annals. 

For Yomiuri, Lee was Lee was 0-4 with two strikeouts and a walk and is at .200. Gonzalez was 0-3 and is at .200. Hollins was 2-4 with a walk and is at .400. 

The up and down Kenichi Nakata was on the uptick Sunday, as he went six shutout innings on four hits and was backed by homers from rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome and leftfielder Masahiko Morino for a 5-1 victory over Yakult to cap off a sweep at Nagoya Dome. It was the first time in three years that the Dragons have begun the season with three straight wins. 

Shugo Fujii, whose performances are often unpredictable as well, was in for just four innings for the Swallows and was roughed up for three runs on six hits to fall to 0-1. 

Chunichi shortstop Hirokazu Ibata doubled to rightcenter to commence the bottom of the first and second baseman Masahiro Araki reached on an infield hit. Fukudome singled to center to usher Ibata in. First baseman Tyrone Woods walked to load the bases. Centerfielder Byung-kyu Lee grounded to first and Araki dashed in. Third baseman Norihiro Nakamura grounded to short and Fukudome registered at the pay station for a 3-0 lead. 

The Dragons had two on and two out in the third and they stagnated out there.

Nakata was never pressed all that hard until the fifth, when Yakult shortstop Shinya Miyamoto singled to right with one out and, one out later, Mitsuru Manaka, pinch hitting for Fujii, singled to right. Centerfielder Norichika Aoki walked to swell the bags. But second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka whiffed and Nakata wove a perfect sixth to conclude his assignment. 

In the bottom of the sixth, Morino clubbed a forkball from reliever Masato Hanada into the rightfield seats to improve their position to 4-0. 

Fukudome then came up against Shohei Tateyama in the seventh and mashed a 90mph fastball on the outer half of the plate into the leftcenterfield bleachers to make it 5-0. 

Aoki homered to right off of Masato Kobayashi in the eighth to avert the shutout, but the Swallows generated only one more hit afterward as manager Hiromitsu Ochiai's relay of relievers secured the W for Nakata.

It is the first time since 1998 that Yakult was swept to open the regular season. 

That double by Ibata in the first was the 1000th knock of his career and his mom Setsuko was in the stands to see it happen. 

For Yakult, first baseman Adam Riggs was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .083. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 1-4 and is at .250. Rightfielder Aaron Guiel was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .250. 

For Chunichi, Woods was 0-2 with two walks and two strikeouts and is at .000. Santiago Ramirez also got into the game and was perfect in the seventh. 

Yomiuri The Giants Opening Day game with Yokohama drew only a 13.1% rating in the Kanto region (Tokyo-Yokohama- Chiba), a record low since they started keeping track in 1972. In addition, it wasn't broadcast in the Kansai area (Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe). Instead, the Hanshin-Hiroshima faceoff elicited a 15.6% share. 

Koshien Tournament Spurred by a grand slam to right by rightfielder Shoki Sugiya on a hanging slider and a solo dinger by team captain Akira Nakamura, Teikyo High School scored six runs in the first against Koryo High School Sunday to snatch a 7-1 victory and move into the semifinals of the spring Koshien tourney. It is the first time in 15 years that Teikyo has gotten that far. Tatsuya Kakegahara went all the way on six hits.

By the way, Sugiya's father Mitsuru is a former Japanese featherweight boxing champ. 

Ogaki Nichidai High School whipped Kansai High School 9-1 in yet another upset. Ogaki ace Takayuki Morita went the distance on eight hits to earn credit for the win. 

Miscellaneous Cardinals rightfielder So Taguchi was 1-4 Sunday against the Mets in the redbirds regular season opener. However, the lost 6-1.