Rookie catcher Ginjiro Sumitani homered twice and drove in six runs to power the Seibu Lions to a 13-4 romp, handing the Softbank Hawks their first defeat of the regular season in the Pacific League Wednesday.
Yuji Yoshioka (right) of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
is tagged out at home by Orix Buffaloes catcher Takeshi
Hidaka during Wednesday's game at Fullcast Stadium.
Sumitani, who was picked in the first round of the 2006 high school draft, hit a grand slam off right-hander Daniel Carrasco (0-1) for his career first homer to key a six-run second as Seibu batted around in the big inning to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
The 18-year-old went deep again in the sixth to cap a 2-for-5 performance and Hiroyuki Nakajima chipped in with three RBIs on 1-for-3 hitting. All of Seibu's starting nine delivered in an 18-hit onslaught at Kitakyushu stadium.