Baseball: Kiyomiya homer lifts Nippon Ham over Orix

Kotaro Kiyomiya hit his first home run of the season and rookie Shoma Kanemura threw 6-1/3 effective innings, leading the Nippon Ham Fighters to a 7-2 win over the Orix Buffaloes on Sunday.

The last-place Fighters jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning at Kyocera Dome Osaka on back-to-back home runs by Kiyomiya and Yuki Nomura, the first of which was a three-run shot.

Kanemura (1-0) gave up nine hits but limited the 2022 Japan Series champion Buffaloes to two runs.

“I’m simply happy,” the 22-year-old right-hander said. “My teammates scored runs early and allowed me to concentr...