The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters erupted for 10 runs in the second inning and avoided a three-game opening series sweep by the Softbank Hawks with a 16-5 rout on Monday.
Shinji Takahashi went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and Makoto Kaneko also drove in three runs for the defending Pacific League champions, who opened up a 14-1 lead through two innings at Sapporo Dome.
Nippon Ham finished with 15 hits, eight of them in the second. Masataka Nashida earned the 500th win of his managerial career.