A three-home run salvo helped lift Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters rookie Shohei Otani (1-0) to his first career victory, a 7-3 win over the Chunichi Dragons on Saturday afternoon.
The 18-year-old right-hander allowed Chunichi three runs on four hits, two walks and a hit batsman. Otani, whose fastest pitch reached 156 kph on the radar gun, struck out four in five innings.
The Fighters had 12 hits despite having their best-hitting right fielder, Otani, out of the batting order. Shinya Tsuruoka's two-run homer put the Fighters ahead 2-1 in the second, and Michel Abreu's three-run homer in the third made it 5-2.