We had an ugly troll attack, the Hawks and Swallows are playing like they intend to go 143-0, with three shutouts in their first four games, while Hanshin pulled out a close on to join them at 4-0 to keep Takahiro Arai the last of this year’s rookie managers without a win.

Before the games, I need to mention an embarrassment that happened Sunday. An internet troll posted an obscene, racist diatribe against DeNA lefty Edwin Escobar. In addition to the obligatory racial slurs, the message included a wish that his family die in an auto accident.

The BayStars said they would look into the matter and would consider legal action against excessively abusive social media attacks on their players.

Tuesday’s games

Lions 4, Eagles 0: At Miyagi Stadium, Tatsuya Imai (1-0) struck out eight and had two double plays turned behind him as he scattered three singles, four walks and a hit batsman over seven innings. Rookie Ryosuke Kodama, starting at short in place of captain Sosuke Genda, doubled in Shohei Suzuki with his first pro hit and scored on an Aito Takeda single as the Lions broke up a scoreless tie in the fifth against Takahiro Norimoto (0-1).