Two errors and a two-run home run in 78 at bats… Murakami, the ‘monster hitter’ who couldn’t laugh, lost in the bottom of the 9th inning at Yakult
- allforyouclick
- 0
- on May 04, 2023
Last year we hit home runs, but this year it is very difficult to hit home runs.
Munetaka Murakami (23), the “monster hitter” of the Yakult Swallows, hit his third home run of the season against the Yomiuri Giants at the Tokyo Dome on the 4th. He started fourth – center field and hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning. He tied the game at 4-6 to 6-6.
Murakami, who entered the at-bat from 1 out 1 base, attacked a high fastball in the middle thrown by opponent left-hander Yosei Oe. He pulled a 139km/h fastball from the ball count 1B1S and passed the fence in the middle right크크크벳.
Murakami made a defensive mistake that was the reason for the run in the previous 5th inning. With no runners on second base, Yuto Akihiro caught a grounder and threw a bad throw to first base. 2 out 1 base. The next batter, number 3 Hayato Sakamoto, hit a two-run home run to tie the game 2-2. Then Kazuma Okamoto hit a one-run homer in the fourth. Starter Dylan Peters, who was pitching without a run, was shaken by Murakami’s error.
Murakami hit the middle of the third inning. He scored multiple hits in 23 games. He raised his season batting average from 1/5/6 to 1/7.
Murakami made two errors that day, up to the fourth inning. Murakami, who set the record for the most hits in a season by a Japanese hitter with 56 home runs last year, hit a home run in his first at-bat in the opening game. He got off to a good start, but then suffered a severe slump in hitting.
I hit a home run and hit two hits, but I couldn’t help but laugh. Yomiuri’s 6th Maru Yoshihiro hit a walk-off home run after two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning with the score 7-7. Yomiuri finisher Daisei, who pitched in the ninth inning, recorded a scoreless inning and became the winning pitcher.
Yakult has only 2 wins (9 losses) in the last 11 matches. It fell to 5th out of 6 Central League teams.