As expected, there was a lot of offense on display on Opening Night at Jingu Stadium. Most of it, however, came from an unexpected source.
Starter Masanori Ishikawa held the mighty Yomiuri Giants to two runs and Hiroyasu Tanaka led a 10-hit attack at the plate as the Tokyo Yakult Swallows defeated the Giants 6-2 in front of 27,045 fans on a windy Friday night.
"This was special because it was the season opener and it was against the Giants," Ishikawa said after the game.