Now that's more like it. A day after dropping the season opener to A.L. East doormat Tampa Bay, Hideki Matsui and the Bronx Bombers came out with all guns blazing, bashing out 11 hits and four homers as the New York Yankees demolished the Devil Rays 12-1 Wednesday night at Tokyo Dome.
Hideki Matsui belts a two-run homer to bust open the New York Yankees' lead over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Tokyo Dome.
Matsui went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and an RBI single, but it was Yankees catcher Jorge Posada who did most of the damage, cranking out a pair of three-run homers, one from each side of the plate as the Yankees and Devil Rays split the two-game series.
"I hope I can hit a lot more homers this season," said Matsui, who was named game MVP. "This was a tremendous event and a great way to start the season.
"It was great to see 55,000 fans here rooting for the Yankees. I'm gonna be far away after today but I hope you'll all be rooting for me," Matsui said.
"We did everything but win the World Series last year, and I want to us to become champions this year."
Veteran right-hander Kevin Brown, acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers last December, made his Yankees debut a game to remember, allowing one run and scattering six hits and no walks in seven innings for his first American League win.
Brown combined with relievers Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera to retire the final 15 batters in a row.
Tampa Bay showed signs of life early in the game, with Carl Crawford hitting a leadoff single in the bottom of the first and scoring from second on Aubrey Huff's single to right field.
But it was all downhill from there for the Devil Rays.
Matsui knotted the score in the third with a line drive just out of reach of diving Tampa Bay second baseman Rey Sanchez that allowed Kenny Lofton to score from third base.
New York first baseman Tony Clark provided two more runs in the top of the fourth with a 120-meter home run and Matsui put the game out of reach in the fifth when he cranked a 143-kph fastball into the right-center field bleachers.
Posada launched his first three-run shot a few minutes later and ripped his second homer in the seventh. Derek Jeter capped the scoring for the Yankees with a bases-loaded single later in the inning.
It was Posada's ninth two-homer game and the fifth time the switch-hitter had gone deep from both sides of the plate in the same game.
Venezuelan right-hander Jeremi Gonzalez took the loss for the Devil Rays, giving up five runs on four hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings.
With the win, Brown improved his career record to 198-131, and needs just two more victories to join the exclusive 200-win club.
Hawks fly high
FUKUOKA (Kyodo) The Daiei Hawks hit four homers off Fumiya Nishiguchi, including Nobuhiko Matsunaka's fourth blast in three days, en route to their third straight victory with a 6-4 win over the Seibu Lions on Wednesday.
Hiroshi Shibahara hit a game-tying solo homer in the bottom of the first inning before Tadahito Iguchi's two-run shot in the sixth put Daiei ahead. Matsunaka and Julio Zuleta followed with solo drives to extend the lead to 5-1.
Reliever Akio Mizuta (1-0) earned the win. Nishiguchi (0-1) took the loss after allowing five runs in 5 2/3 innings.
The victory gave Daiei one-game lead atop the PL standings.
Buffaloes 3, Marines 0
At Osaka Dome, Masahiro Abe hit a two-run triple to highlight a three-run fourth inning as Kintetsu blanked Lotte and spoiled the return of former major leaguer Satoru Komiyama.
Tetsuro Kawajiri (1-0) limited the Marines to four hits with six strikeouts in 7-plus innings in his first start since moving from the Hanshin Tigers in the off-season. Hector Carrasco rebounded from the previous night's blown opportunity to get his first save.
Veteran right-hander Komiyama (0-1), formerly with the New York Mets, took the loss after yielding three runs and eight hits in four innings. His wild pitch gave Kintetsu its third run in the fourth.
Fighters 8, BlueWave 7
In Kobe, Tomochika Tsuboi and Fernando Seguignol homered in a 17-hit attack that helped Nippon Ham hold off Orix for its first victory of the regular season.
Nippon Ham rallied from 4-0 and 6-2 deficits and Takeshi Ito pitched out of a no-out, two-on jam in the bottom of the ninth after Orix pulled within one run. Naoyuki Tateishi (1-0) got the win in relief.
Tentative roster named
The Japanese Athens Olympics baseball team selection committee on Wednesday submitted a tentative 36-man national team roster for this summer's games to the Japanese Olympic Committee.
Seibu Lions right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka, Yomiuri Giants' Koji Uehara and Daiei Hawks catcher Kenji Jojima were all named to the roster while Shigeo Nagashima, who is in hospital recovering from a stroke, was registered as the team coach.
Players not picked this time will still have a chance to make the final 24-man roster, which will be announced June 25.
Nagashima guided the national team to victories over South Korea and Taiwan at the Asian Championships last November to secure Japan a spot in the Olympics.
Cabrera has operation
Seibu Lions slugger Alex Cabrera, who broke his right forearm in a preseason game earlier this month, underwent an operation Tuesday to remove bone chips in the United States, general manger Yoshio Hoshino said Wednesday.
"I shouldn't think there will be any change as far as his return to action (after June) is concerned," said Hoshino.
Cabrera, who hit 50 homers last season and tied a single-season mark with 55 homers in 2002, hurt his forearm when he was hit by a pitch in a game against the Kintetsu Buffaloes on March 16.
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