So Taguchi drove in a pair of runs on two hits and scored another as the Orix BlueWave opened with a 6-2 win over the Pacific League's two-time defending champion Daiei Hawks on Saturday at the Fukuoka Dome.
Four Orix pitchers combined to hold the Hawks to seven hits before 48,000 fans, with southpaw reliever Carlos Pulido (1-0) picking up the win with 22/3 innings of work. BlueWave newcomer Koo Dae Sung of South Korea fanned two in the ninth to close out the game.
Buffaloes 10, Fighters 9
At the Tokyo Dome, Kintetsu thundered back from a five-run deficit to post its first Opening Day victory in three years, prevailing in a slugfest over host Nippon Ham.
Koichi Isobe hit a three-run homer for Kintetsu in the seventh to break a 6-all tie in a game that saw eight balls leave the park. Reliever Hiroto Kato worked 21/3 innings for his first win in three years.
'Stars slay Dragons
Hitoshi Nakane tripled with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning at Yokohama Stadium to give the host BayStars a 3-2 "sayonara" win over the Chunichi Dragons in Central League preseason action.
Elsewhere, lefty Darrell May pitched five innings as the Yomiuri Giants beat the Yakult Swallows 5-2, while the Hiroshima Carp and Hanshin Tigers tied 2-2.