Baseball: CL-leading Tigers look unstoppable in win over Dragons

The Hanshin Tigers did not skip a beat in the absence of their star leadoff man and center fielder on Tuesday, when the Central League leaders pounded the Chunichi Dragons 8-2.

With Koji Chikamoto out of the starting lineup after being drilled in the ribs by a pitch on Sunday, Shota Morishita started in center and batted leadoff for Hanshin at Vantelin Dome Nagoya. The rookie sparked two three-run rallies with leadoff singles.

Takumu Nakano tripled in Morishita to open the scoring in the first off veteran right-hander Hideaki Wakui (4-12), and the Tigers never looked back behind Yuki Nishi (6-...