4 days ago
Baseball: Teruaki Sato belts 28th homer as Tigers become 1st to 60 wins
NAGOYA (Kyodo) -- The Hanshin Tigers became the first Nippon Professional Baseball team to reach 60 wins Tuesday after Teruaki Sato's 28th home run lifted them to a 6-2 victory over the Chunichi Dragons.
The 26-year-old NPB home run leader put the visiting team ahead 3-2 with his three-run blast over right field in the eighth inning of the Central League contest at Vantelin Dome Nagoya.
Sato also added his NPB-best 71st RBI with the long bomb off left-handed reliever Yuki Hashimoto (2-1), who came into the game with a stingy 0.98 ERA.
"I was happy to get a great result," said Sato, who was 0-3 against Chunichi starter Yudai Ono before the at-bat. "It was a good hit."
Former New York Mets right-hander Grant Hartwig (1-0) earned his first win in Japan after relieving Hanshin starter Haruto Takahashi with a scoreless seventh inning.
The 27-year-old American loaded the bases with three straight walks before pitching out of the jam with a strikeout and a double play.
