A section of the capacity crowd at Tokyo Dome last night

March 31, 2002--After compiling a 15-3-2 record in the preseason, the Hanshin Tigers rolled right into the regular season on Saturday night like no one told them it was opening day. And given the Tigers' record on the first day of the season, that might just have been the plan.

Playing under a new manager, with new spirit, on the new grass-like rug at Tokyo Dome, the Tigers ended an 11-year run of opening day futility with a 3-1 victory over their traditional rivals, the Yomiuri Giants.

Kei Igawa threw a six-hitter, and the Tigers got home runs from Shinjiro Hiyama and George Arias as the club chalked up manager Senichi Hoshino's first win in a Tigers uniform.

Igawa, 9-13 with a 2.67 ERA a year ago, started for the Tigers and quickly took advantage of this year's other novelty: the expanded strike zone.

The top of the zone was raised this spring from the belt to midway between the belt and the top of the shoulder with the intention of shortening game times. Home plate umpire Osamu Ino, certainly caught up in the spirit of expansion, provided a zone that often seemed to stretch from one dugout to the other.

And Igawa took everything the umpire gave them as he struck out nine and walked three.

"The strike zone was pretty big," said Igawa. "And I think that really worked to my advantage.

Fans got a taste of what the new rules might mean with two fast workers who throw strikes on the mound. The game, before a packed crowd, was full of excitement and still ended in just 2 hours 37 minutes.

Koji Uehara, making his third straight opening day start, struck out 10 and walked one batter intentionally in eight innings of work as his career record against the Tigers dropped to 10-4. The Osaka native allowed seven hits including the two went the distance.

Hiyama homered with one out in the second to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead, and Arias made it 3-0 with a two-run shot to center in the fourth.

"Normally, I'm very nervous in a situation like tonight," said Hiyama. "I went up intending to enjoy myself and after I took the first pitch for a ball, I felt unusually calm and in control, like the next pitch was mine.

"It was a hanging slider and I got jammed a little on it, but it got over. It's a great feeling."

Arias, who joined the Tigers in the off-season from the Orix BlueWave, was sitting on a 1-0 fastball and took it out just to the left of dead center.

"It feels great to come in here and get a win like this in their park," said Arias. "And to play for great fans like this, it's incredible."

The night got better for Arias as his interpreter retrieved the ball after the game. With a couple of guys warming up in the bull pen, Igawa went out to pitch the bottom of the ninth and quickly landed in an undeserved jam.

Hideki Matsui led off with a flair to right field, and Kazuhiro Kiyohara, who drove in the Giants only run with a solo homer in the fourth, followed with an infield single.

With runners on first and second, Igawa got Akira Eto to fly out to short center for the first out. But the trouble evaporated as quickly and strangely as it had started.

Shinnosuke Abe lined a shot that looked like it would land in left field and put the tying run at second. However, shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto climbed the ladder and managed to knock the ball down. Recovering the ball quickly, he fired to second for a force on Kiyohara.

Matsui hesitated and was caught in no-man's land between second and third for an easy final out.

"This is the greatest," said Igawa. "I tried throughout just to treat it like a regular game. I wasn't really thinking about the losing streak or breaking it."

Hoshino was in the happy position of playing down the importance of the victory.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Hoshino said after the game. "This team is just starting. It was just one win. Still it was a start. Right now, I don't want to think about tomorrow."

Kiyohara's home run was the 443rd of his career. It brings him within one of the No. 11 spot on the all-time list--currently occupied by former Giants manager, Shigeo Nagashima.