Michihiro Ogasawara, Edgardo Alfonzo and Yoshitomo Tani all homered Saturday as the Yomiuri Giants routed the Lotte Marines 7-1 in the first preseason game for manager Tatsunori Hara in his return from the World Baseball Classic.
Ogasawara, a member of the WBC-winning Japan team, gave Yomiuri a 1-0 lead with a shot over the wall in left-center in the first inning and Alfonzo hit his second home run of the spring to make it 2-0 in the fourth at Tokyo Dome.
During pregame batting practice, Hara was congratulated by players such as former major league second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, who ended a six-game hitless streak with a 2-for-3 performance for Lotte.
In other action, Nagisa Arakaki threw six innings and combined with four relievers on a four-hit shutout as the Softbank Hawks beat the Hiroshima Carp 1-0 to extend their winning streak to seven games.
Arakaki struck out six and scattered three hits. Hot-hitting third baseman Nobuhiro Matsuda doubled in the only run of the game.
Masahiro Tanaka, also a WBC Team Japan member, pitched five scoreless innings in the Rakuten Eagles' 3-1 win over the Chunichi Dragons.
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