By Oh Sang-jin Reporter= Boston Red Sox outfielder Yoshida Masataka (30) summoned Japanese major league “legend” Ichiro Suzuki (50).
Yoshida started at third base and left field in the Red Sox’ home game against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., on July 7 (local time), going 2-for-5 with a double, one RBI and one run scored in the team’s 10-6 victory. His batting average increased from .310 to .312 on the season.
After reaching base on a grounder to second in his first at-bat, Yoshida singled to left in his second at-bat of the third. Advancing to third on Rafael Devers’ double, Yoshida scored on Adam Duvall’s sacrifice fly.
Yoshida, who was retired on a grounder to shortstop in the fifth, completed his multi-hit game in the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, Yoshida led off with a single and was removed from the game on a grounder to first base, but the Red Sox bats came back to life. A 4-5 deficit turned into a 9-5 lead, and with runners on first and third, Yoshida hit a big bound ball to center field to bring in the tying run.카지노
A six-run seventh inning gave Boston a 10-6 victory over Texas, which got a run back in the top of the ninth on a solo home run by Corey Seager.
Yoshida’s multi-hit performance extended his multi-hit streak to five games. It is the first time in 22 years that a Japanese major leaguer has had five consecutive multi-hit games in his rookie season since Ichiro in 2001. Yoshida now has 32 multi-hit games this season, second in all of baseball behind Bo Bissett (Toronto Blue Jays, 33).
By raising his batting average to .312, Yoshida has also reignited the American League batting title race. He is eight leagues behind first-place Bo Bissett (0.320) and just two behind second-place Austin Hayes (Baltimore Orioles, 0.312) (Hayes 0.3118, Yoshida 0.3116). If Yoshida wins the batting title against stiff competition, he will be the first Japanese major leaguer to do so in 19 years since Ichiro (.372 batting average), who set a record with 262 hits in 2004.