Baseball: Former Yankee Tanaka earns 1st win at Fighters’ new park

Masahiro Tanaka pitched into the sixth inning to earn his 191st win in top-flight pro baseball as the Rakuten Eagles opened Japan’s season and the Nippon Ham Fighters’ new ballpark with a 3-1 victory Thursday.

Before an Opening Day crowd of 31,092 at Es Con Field Hokkaido, the former New York Yankees star retired the first 13 batters he faced. Tanaka allowed a run on two hits while striking out five, walking two and hitting one over 5-2/3 innings.

The win was Tanaka’s 113th in Japan. He also has 78 from his seven seasons with the Yankees.

“I was psyched up, ready to go and am happy to earn the...