Designated hitter Tuffy Rhodes hit two solo home runs in back-to-back at-bats Thursday to pace the Orix Buffaloes to an 8-1 win over the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
Rhodes gave the Buffaloes a 2-0 lead with his homers in the second and fourth innings, while Shinji Shimoyama and Greg LaRocca each added a solo shot as Orix offense erupted for five runs in the eighth inning at Skymark Stadium in Kobe.
Lefty Dan Serafini (1-0) worked 7 1/3 shutout innings, fanning five while scattering five hits and giving up one walk for his first win in two seasons. Chihiro Kaneko got the save after giving up one run in the ninth.
Brian Sweeney (0-1) left the mound at two outs in the sixth after surrendering three of the home runs.
Hawks 9, Eagles 7
At Yahoo Dome, Hiroshi Shibahara hit a two-run homer to right at two outs in the bottom of the ninth to end the deadlocked game in Fukuoka and give Softbank its fourth consecutive win and third straight against Tohoku Rakuten.
Michinao Yamamura (1-0) picked up his first professional win in relief.