The Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants met Friday in the first game of the biggest series thus far of the 2008 season.
Despite a star-studded cast of veterans on both sides, it was the youngest player on the field who shone the brightest.
Nineteen-year-old Hayato Sakamoto drove in three runs to help the Giants draw first blood in the three-game set with a 6-4 win in front of a raucous crowd of 45,744 at Tokyo Dome.