The real Ian Harrington showed up, Jorge Franco was perfect in the lead-off spot, Kris Sanchez was business as usual and Hawai'i routed Pacific, 13-1, last night in the opener of the three-game series.

The Rainbows (5-2) won their third in a row before 1,210 at Les Murakami Stadium and stopped a two-game win streak by the Tigers (2-3).

Harrington (2-1), who lasted just 1 1/3 innings last week against Georgia Southern, pitched seven innings, allowing a run, four hits and a walk with a career-high nine strikeouts.

Franco, who entered the game with a .120 batting average and three runs scored, was 1 for 1 with an RBI triple, three walks, a hit batsman, two steals and three runs.

Sanchez, Western Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week the last two weeks, was 2 for 4 with a grand slam and six RBIs. It was the senior first baseman's first career home run at UH.

Harrington said after viewing tapes of his last start, when he gave up seven runs and seven hits in a 13-11 loss, he and the coaches concluded he needed to adjust his leg kick.

"This whole week was dedicated to fixing my mechanics from last week," the left-handed Harrington said. "My leg kick got a little violent and caused me to get up in the zone. My goal was to stay under control with my motion and throw more strikes early in the count."

The only trouble he had was in the fourth, when nearly everything the Tigers hit was hard and led to their only run. Two sharp singles were followed by a deep fly to left that was hauled in by a nice running catch by Franco. Another sharp single loaded the bases to set up Greg Murray's sacrifice fly to right before Harrington struck out Kurt Wideman to end the inning. Harrington allowed only one hit the next three innings, but that runner was erased by a double play.

"He did a nice job of getting out of the jam, where he gave up some hits, but held it to one run," UH coach Mike Trapasso said "He found it again and made some adjustments within the game and that's important because that's what you gotta have. That's probably what I was most proud of."

Of course, the early lead was comforting.

"Anytime the team comes out and scores 13 runs, it makes life easy on the mound," Harrington said.

Franco moved back to the lead-off spot after batting second the last two games. He had struggled at the plate the last two series. He was 0 for 17 since homering in the second game of the season. Last night, he had only one hit, but it was an RBI triple that triggered UH's six-run third in which nine batters went to the plate. He said he dropped his bat angle a little from straight up.

"It makes me stay through the ball," he said.

Meanwhile, the left-handed hitting Sanchez continues his tear. His grand slam came in the third against the left-handed David Rowse (0-2), who was tagged for eight runs, seven hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings.

"It was a fastball up in the zone, above the belt, probably more towards the letters," Sanchez said. "I don't even know if it was a strike, but Coach Meij (Keith Komeiji) told me from the beginning of the at-bat, 'If you see something up, (to hit it) and I was able to put a pretty good swing on it. I pretty much knew it was gone when I hit it."

Nate Young, who also came in struggling with a .125 batting average, went 3 for 4 with four RBIs, including a double. Justin Frash was 3 for 3 and Landon Hernandez was 2 for 3.

Right-hander Craig Johnson, a JC transfer, made his UH debut with two scoreless innings of relief.

"The guy's got great stuff and it was just a matter of commanding the zone and he did that," Trapasso said. "I hope to be able to use him more because his stuff is really, really good."

Despite the rout, don't count the Tigers just dead yet. They lost their season opener, 11-7, to Cal State Northridge, only to come back the next two days with strong pitching performances in a 2-1 loss and 12-0 win.

Today's game is 1:05 p.m. Mark Rodrigues will start for UH against sophomore Joey Centanni in a battle of southpaws.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.