Munetaka Murakami of the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball exploded for a long ball.
Murakami started at third base and went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs in the fourth inning of a home game against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp on Monday at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Japan. He went 2-for-2 with a home run and a double to snap the team’s five-game losing streak.
After reaching on a fielder’s choice in the first inning, Murakami broke a 1-1 tie with a solo home run over the left field fence two batters later in the fourth inning. It was his 18th home run of the season in a week. He is now four behind Kazuya Okamoto of Yomiuri (22) for the league home run lead.
Murakami, a left-handed hitter, hit a big shot that landed in the middle of the left-field bleachers. “I was able to get a good push and the ball came out at a good angle,” Murakami said after the game.
According to Japanese media, Takatsu Shingo Yakult marveled, “Only Murakami can hit it that far backwards.” Fans responded with comments such as “I can’t believe it’s a reverse hit” and “Murakami is back from last year.”
Murakami’s third at-bat came in the sixth inning with the score tied 2-2. He took a wild pitch from the opposing pitcher and drew a walk to load the bases. The next batter’s infield single to shortstop gave Yakult a 3-2 lead.
Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Murakami drove in a run with a double to right field. Yakult went on to win 5-3.
Murakami, who set the record for most home runs by a Japanese player last year (56), slumped in April, going 1-for-52 (12-for-79) with one home run, 10 RBI and a .541 OPS in 24 games.
In May, he started to feel better and regained his power. After hitting seven home runs in 24 games in May, he slumped back to three in 21 games in June. In July, he’s 3-for-22 (73 at-bats) with six home runs and a .997 OPS, and he’s starting to regain some of his batting title form from last year.카지노
Of course, it’s a far cry from last year’s 56 home runs, 3-for-31, and 134 RBIs. In 90 games this season, Murakami is batting 2-for-4 with 18 homers, 53 RBIs and an OPS of .829.
Meanwhile, Yakult starter Yasuhiro Ogawa pitched seven innings of two-run ball on 113 pitches to pick up his fifth win of the season. He reached 1,500 career innings.