Giants to host Yakult in opener

The Japan Series champion Yomiuri Giants will host a three-game series against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows at Tokyo Dome when the Central League opens the 2010 regular season on March 26, the league said Wednesday.

In the other opening matchups, the Chunichi Dragons will take on the Hiroshima Carp at Nagoya Dome while the Hanshin Tigers will face the Yokohama BayStars at Kyocera Dome.

Koshien Stadium, the home stadium for Hanshin, will be used for the national high school baseball invitational tournament at that time.

The top three teams of the 2008 season will host the opening series on March 26-28. Each team plays 144 games, including 24 interleague games, as in this past season.

A regular-season game will be played in Okinawa Prefecture for the first time since the then-Taiyo Whales played Hiroshima in 1975. Yokohama and Yakult will meet at Onoyama Stadium in Naha on June 29-30.