It was a seven-second shot. It was a home run that painted a huge parabola in the night sky.
For the second straight game, Yakult Swallows’ Munetaka Murakami hit a home run. After a slow start to the season, Murakami has regained the momentum of last year’s home run king, leading the league in home runs and RBIs in July.먹튀검증
Yakult hit a three-run homer in a 7-4 win over the Yokohama DeNA Basestars on July 30 at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Japan.
Murakami, who started at third base in the No. 4 spot, went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and a run scored. His home run came with one out in the eighth inning.
It was Murakami’s second straight game with a home run, his 19th of the season, moving him to within three of Kazuya Okamoto (Yomiuri, 22) for the Central League home run lead.
Murakami batted .321 with seven home runs and 17 RBIs in 21 games in July. He leads the month of July in home runs and RBIs. If he continues his pace in the second half of the season, he could take over the home run lead.
Yakult led off the first inning with a single, then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Yasutaka Shiomi followed with an RBI single. Murakami followed with a single to left to put runners on first and third. She then scored the second run on an infield grounder.
Yakult gave up a run in the fourth on a solo home run, but the team responded with three hits in the bottom of the inning to make it 4-1. He added another run in the fifth to make it 5-1.
Then came the mid-game crisis. In the sixth, a leadoff single and back-to-back walks put the bases loaded. A fastball from the catcher allowed a run to score, and a sacrifice fly put runners on second and third. An infield grounder put runners on first and third to cut the deficit to 5-4.
In the eighth, Murakami led off the inning with a wedge home run. On a 3-pitch, 1-strike count, he pulled a fastball over the right field fence for a solo home run. After Murakami’s homer, Yakult followed with a two-run double to make it 7-4.
Japanese media outlet Nikkan Sports said, “Murakami’s home run had a seven-second travel time. The overwhelming parabola painted on the night sky of Meiji Jingu Stadium landed in front of the right-field bleachers.”
Manager Shingo Takatsu praised Murakami’s home run for the second straight game, saying, “It was a very big hit that changed the game with one hit.”
Murakami, who is now three shy of the home run lead, said, “I still have to move forward. I want to do my best to leave a good mark at the end of the season.”