NAGOYA — The formula was simple, and it worked.

News photoChunichi's Kenshin Kawakami fires a pitch against Hanshin during Game 1 of Stage 1 of the Central League Climax Series on Saturday night at Nagoya Dome. KYODO PHOTO

The Chunichi Dragons took the early lead and never relinquished it in their 7-0 victory over the Hanshin Tigers in Game 1 of first stage of the Central League Climax Series.

Tyrone Woods belted a two-run homer in the first inning and Kenshin Kawakami pitched seven scoreless innings to put the hosts one win away from booking a spot in the second stage.

Masahiko Morino also provided big production for the Dragons, driving in the game's first run and clubbing a three-run homer in the sixth.

Game 2 of the best-of-three series is slated for Sunday night at 6 p.m.

Kawakami, who led the CL with 17 wins in both 2004 and 2006, struck out nine batters. He allowed two hits and didn't issue a walk.

Interestingly enough, the veteran right-hander fanned the first and third batters he faced in each of the first three innings.

Nice, naturally, but it didn't follow a script.

Kawakami, relying on pinpoint control, retired 16 straight batters to start the game.

The Dragons' offense set the tone early. Leadoff hitter Masahiro Araki singled and stole second, giving the hosts a spark at the get-go. He took third on Hirokazu Ibata's groundout.

Morino, the No. 3 hitter, followed with a run-scoring single to right.

Then Woods, who bashed 35 regular-season home runs, wasted little time in reminding the Chunichi faithful that he's a premier power hitter.

The 38-year-old slugger from Florida bashed a two-run homer to right-center on a slow 1-0 offering from veteran southpaw Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi, a 10-game winner in the regular season who relies on off-speed pitches to win games.

Norihiro Nakamura followed with a double down the left-field line and Ryosuke Hirata was hit by a pitch to put more heat on Shimoyanagi in the early going. Motonobu Tanishige was called out on strikes with two men on to end the inning.

The Dragons put themselves in a perfect position to add to their lead in the fourth. Tanishige clubbed a leadoff double off the left-field wall and Kawakami dropped down a textbook bunt to move his battery mate 27.43 meters (90 feet) from home plate.

At that point, Tigers skipper Akinobu Okada decided he'd seen enough. He opted to take out Shimoyanagi and replace him with right-hander Ryo Watanabe before Araki stepped into the batter's box with a chance to extend the lead to four or more.

Watanabe quelled the rally, inducing Araki and Ibata to hit a pair of groundball outs Araki.

Shimoyanagi lasted just 3 1/3 innings.

In the fifth, the Dragons again made some noise. With two outs, Nakamura lashed a single to left and Lee Byung Kyu reached on a one-bagger to left-center. Hirata's flyball to deep right ended the scoring chance.

Kawakami pitched a perfect game through five innings. He retired the 16th straight batter, Tigers catcher Akihiro Yano, on a flyout to start the sixth.

Kentaro Sekimoto followed with a single to left, a hit that zipped past Nakamura at the hot corner.

Tigers fans rejoiced.

And then Kawakami went back to work. He quickly got two more outs, walked back to the dugout and took a well-deserved rest.

Tomoyuki Kubota, the third Hanshin pitcher, put himself in a jam in the sixth. He allowed a leadoff single to Tanishige. Two batters later, Araki slapped a single to center, putting runners at the corners.

Ibata's opposite-field single pushed the lead to 4-0.

That margin was short-lived.

Morino followed with a three-run shot — barely, but it counted — over the right-field fence. That made it 7-0, sending Kubota to the showers early.

Then Okada ordered Venezuelan Darwin Cubillan to take over on the hill. He recorded two outs to limit the damage to one big hit in the frame.

Through six innings, the Dragons, who missed Kosuke Fukudome's presence in the lineup in the season's second half, had 12 hits.

Lee, Chunichi's right fielder, robbed Imaoka of an extra-base hit in the seventh. He made a running catch before crashing into the wall for the final out of the inning.

The Tigers failed to end the shutout in the ninth despite consecutive hits by Makoto Imaoka and Kodai Sakurai.

Reliever Masafumi Hirai got Yano to hit a game-ending flyball to right.