Expect the expected …

Dragons’ stars fire up

Coming off breakout seasons, Tony Blanco and Kazuki Yoshimi have to meet high expectations this year.
The pair stepped up on Thursday at Nagoya Dome, Blanco going 2-for-3 with solo blast and Yoshimi working seven strong innings, as the Chunichi Dragons downed 3-1 the Yakult Swallows.
Yoshimi, who tied for the Central League lead in wins last season with 16, allowed Hisashi Ihara’s fourth-inning solo shot, but scattered seven hits and two walks, while fanning a pair.
Blanco, last year’s CL home run leader, doubled in a run and scored in the fourth inning and added another insurance run in the eighth with a bases-empty homer, his sixth, to help the Dragons set up a sweep when the teams meet again tonight.
The other two CL games were rained out.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

LIONS 11, HAWKS 6
Hisashi Takayama hit a bases-clearing triple in the first inning and Toru Hosokawa added a three-run double in the fourth inning as Seibu bombed Tsuyoshi Wada (3-2) at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Dee Brown broke a 6-6 tie in the seventh with an RBI single, and Fukuoka native Ryoma Nogami (1-0) got the win with 1.2 innings of relief.

FIGHTERS 11, BUFFALOES 1
Eiichi Koyano broke out for a career-high, six-RBI night, finishing a triple shy of the cycle to lead Nippon Ham past Orix at Kyocera Dome.
Atsunori Inaba had two hits, including a two-run homer, to lead a 13-hit attack that stopped a three-game skid.

Rakuten and Lotte were rained out.