TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. -- It's too early to say it's the sophomore jinx, but for the second day in a row, last season's Rookie of the Year couldn't win a 2000 season opener.

Second-year hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka started for the Seibu Lions against Nippon Ham on Saturday at the Seibu Dome as the Pacific League began its new season. However, the 19-year-old right hander, who notched a league-best 16 wins on his way to being named the PL's top rookie last season, gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits and left the game after the seventh inning.

The Lions still managed to beat the Fighters 6-5 in 10 innings before the 40,000 home-field crowd, but it was not Matsuzaka who led the team to victory. A day earlier, Central League fellow-Rookie of the Year Koji Uehara of the Yomiuri Giants took the loss when he surrendered four runs to the Hiroshima Carp.

Matsuzaka had a little more luck than Uehara to avoid taking the loss because the Lions overcame a 3-0 deficit and tied the game on Taisei Takagi's three-run homer soon after Matsuzaka was replaced.

"I think (Matsuzaka) did a good job today," Seibu manager Osamu Higashio said. "He looked a little nervous at the beginning but I'm satisfied with his performance. He made the game very competitive."

Matsuzaka got off to a good start as he struck out Fighters leadoff man Michihiro Ogasawara. His second pitch to Ogasawara marked the day's maximum speed at 150 kph. Matsuzaka held the Fighters to one hit over the first three innings.

Nippon Ham starter Tsutomu Iwamoto, however, performed well enough to overshadow Matsuzaka's effort. The 29-year-old righty allowed two singles and a walk in the first inning, but was perfect over the next 5 1/3 innings until he gave up a single to Reggie Jefferson in the seventh.

The Fighters got on the board first in the fourth inning. Atsushi Kataoka led off the inning with a single to left and stole the second. Nigel Wilson then singled home Kataoka for a 1-0 lead.

Nippon Ham used a little luck to score its second run. With two out and Tsutomu Ishimoto at third, Wilson hit a pop fly above the pitcher's mound. Third baseman Tony Fernandez got in position to make the easy catch, but he dropped the ball, allowing Ishimoto to score.

The Fighters added what looked at the time like an insurance run for the red-hot Iwamoto when Ishimoto doubled off Matsuzaka to drive in Makoto Kaneko in the seventh inning. Matsuzaka would not be back to start the eighth.

It appeared that Iwamoto would become the first PL pitcher to earn a shutout victory for the third consecutive season opener, but it was not that easy. Jefferson's single in the seventh lit a fire under the Lions. Ken Suzuki followed with a double and then Takagi belted his game-tying three-run blast into the right-field stands.

In the top of the eighth, Wilson smack a go-ahead solo homer to right off Seibu reliever Jun Takeshita.

The Fighters replaced Iwamoto with newcomer Carlos Mirabal in the bottom of the ninth, but the former Pittsburgh Pirate had trouble with his control and gave up a game-tying double to Takagi, which sent the game into extra inning.

The Fighters took the lead for the third time in the 10th inning. Toshihiro Noguchi tripled off Shinji Mori and drove in Hiroshi Narahara. But Mirabal couldn't hold the lead.

With one out in the bottom of the 10th, Mirabal yielded back-to-back singles to Susumu Otomo and Kazuo Matsui and walked Fernandez to load the bases. He then walked pinch-hitter Masahide Kaizuka to bring across the game-tying run. Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi replaced Mirabal, but Suzuki hit a game-ending single to center.Hawks 8, Marines 7

Daiei almost squandered a six-run, first-inning lead but the defending champion held on to edge Lotte at the Fukuoka Dome.

The Hawks jumped on Marines starter Tomohiro Kuroki in the first, racking five hits, including Koji Akiyama's leadoff solo homer and a two-run home run by Nobuhiko Matsunaka for an early lead.

The Marines scored two runs on Koichi Hori's second-inning two-run blast and added two more in the fourth, but the Hawks widened the lead on Hiroki Kokubo's two-run shot in the fifth.

Hawks closer Rodney Pedraza was chased in the ninth, giving up three runs on five hits to let the Marines get within a run.BlueWave 4, Buffaloes 0

Orix hurler Hiroshi Kobayashi tossed a four-hitter to lift the BlueWave past Kintetsu in a speedy 2-hour, 25-minute game in Kobe.

The right-hander playing his eighth season, held the Buffaloes to one hit over the first six innings and walked just one batter for the win.

Orix center fielder Yoshitomo Tani hit a solo homer in the third inning off Kintetsu's new hurler Bob Wolcott, who gave up five hits and two earned runs over five innings and took the loss.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

BayStars 5, Tigers 1

Pinch-hitter Hitoshi Nakane drilled a go-ahead three-run homer in a four-run seventh as the BayStars beat Hanshin at Yokohama.

Nakane's homer from a 1-1 tie gave starter Takashi Saito the win. He allowed six hits and walked three over seven innings.

Hanshin took the lead on Tony Tarasco's solo homer in the fourth inning, but Bobby Rose, who batted a Central League-leading .369 last season, tied the game for the BayStars with a solo blast in the sixth.Dragons 2, Swallows 0

Melvin Bunch combined with reliever Hitoki Iwase on a five-hitter as defending CL champion Chunichi beat Yakult at the Nagoya Dome for its first win of the season.

Bunch scattered five hits and struck out seven over 7 2/3 innings for the win while Iwase worked a perfect 1 1/3 innings and earned the save.Carp 3, Giants 1

Koichi Ogata smacked a go-ahead solo homer off Balvino Galvez (0-1) in the sixth inning as Hiroshima beat Yomiuri at the Tokyo Dome for its second straight victory to open the season.

Makoto Kito (1-0) gave up one run on five hits over five innings and three relievers shut out the Giants for the rest of the game.