Masahiko Morino was a double short of a cycle as his four-hit, four-RBI game sparked the Central League-leading Chunichi Dragons to a 5-2 win against the hapless Yokohama BayStars on Sunday.
Chunichi, now a season-high 17 games over .500 after its fourth straight win, opened the scoring in the first inning at Nagoya Dome thanks to Morino, who hit a three-run home run off Atori Ota (0-5), his 20th roundtripper of the season.
"I think it's been a long time since we scored in the first inning on my hit," said Morino, who had his fourth four-hit game of the season.
Morino had a triple in the third inning, a single to right in the fifth and in the seventh, hit a crucial RBI single in his last at-bat that put the Dragons up 4-2.