Hayato Sakamoto (35), the leading hitter of the Yomiuri Giants, who suffered from severe batting sluggishness, is in an atmosphere that is completely revived. On the 4th, against the Yakult Swallows held at the Tokyo Dome, he started as a shortstop and recorded 2 hits and 4 RBIs.
He hit a two-run home run to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth with the score trailing 0–2. Yakult starting pitcher Dylan Peters hit the slider in the middle of the first pitch and sent it over the left wall of the Tokyo Dome. Season 4 home run.
In the bottom of the 6th inning, he hit a timely double that split the middle right with 2 outs loaded, bringing two runners home.
His batting pace has been very good lately. In his last six games, he went 10-for-24 with a batting average of . 4.7 with 3 home runs, 9 RBI and 5 runs scored.
His season batting average, which was hovering around 10%, rose to 20.29 li (19 hits in 83 at-bats).
Sakamoto, the main shortstop who has represented Yomiuri for a long time, has been suffering from severe batting sluggishness since the exhibition game. He appeared in 14 games, went 4-for-36 with no home runs, batted just 1.15 with 1 run and 2 RBIs.
The sluggishness continued into the regular season.
In the opening match against the Chunichi Dragons, he played shortstop six times and had no hits in four at-bats. It was sluggish throughout the opening three consecutive matches with Chunichi. He went hitless in 10 at-bats with four strikeouts.
After going 0-for-5 in a game against the Yokohama Baystars on April 4, he missed the game the next day. Director Tatsunori Hara gave the team a break in order to reorganize. Of course, there was also criticism from fans. As coach Hara continued to use Sakamoto, who was sluggish, the arrow headed for the command tower. Get a young infielder on board안전놀이터
there was a demand
On the following day, the 6th, Sakamoto also went 0-hit in 3 at-bats. After coming on as a pinch hitter against the Hiroshima Carps on April 7, he finally got his first hit in the game on the 8th. The first hit he hit in eight games and 23 at-bats from the opening game was a home run. However, the downturn continued after that.
Sakamoto suffered from a sex scandal last year. He has had issues with his private life before, and it has also been made public through the media. Due to an injury, he failed to reach 100 hits for the first time since becoming a starter in 2008. He has been a key player in the Japanese national team for a long time, but he was excluded from the WBC (World Baseball Classic) national team.
Sakamoto has 2224 hits, 270 home runs and 955 RBIs in 2011 games.
On the other hand, Yomiuri won by hitting a walk-off home run after 2 out in the bottom of the 9th inning with Yoshihiro Maru 7-7 in the 6th. Yomiuri, who won 8-7 for two days in a row, pulled down Yakult and rose to fourth place. It is said to be the first 8-7 victory for two days in a row in Yomiuri history.