Whoever wins the Sawamura Award this year might want to do whatever it takes to avoid Randy Messenger and the Hanshin Tigers on Opening Day next season.
Things didn¡¯t really work out so well for the last two recipients when they went up against the big Nevadan and his teammates.
Messenger shut down the Yomiuri Giants¡¯ hitters, Kosuke Fukudome and Yusuke Oyama hit the first two home runs of the 2018 NPB season, both off Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano, and the Tigers got their year off to a roaring start with a 5-1 win over their CL rivals in the season opener in front of a crowd of 46,318 on Friday night at Tokyo Dome.
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