Baseball: Hawks’ Yanagita leads PL to victory in All-Star Game 1

The Pacific League All-Star team provided the offensive fireworks Wednesday in an 8-1 win over the Central League in the first of this year’s two Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star games.

SoftBank Hawks outfielder Yuki Yanagita singled in a run in the PL’s four-run first inning and blasted a third-inning homer at Vantelin Dome Nagoya and was named the game’s MVP honors.

Lotte Marines right-hander Roki Sasaki worked a scoreless first inning to earn the win for the PL, which now holds an 89-80 lead over the CL with 11 ties.

Thursday’s Game 2 will be at Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium, with Allen Ku...