The pitching matchup between aces Yusei Kikuchi and Tomoyuki Sugano fizzled out early on Friday night.
As for the Seibu Lions' lineup, well, they were as good as advertised.
Shogo Akiyama led off the game with a home run to set the tone at the plate and Kikuchi outpitched the Yomiuri Giants' ace in the Lions' 5-4 victory in front of a crowd of 45,533, which included scouts from several major league teams, at Tokyo Dome.