Red Sox outfielder rocks solo homer, grand slam in same inning

Masataka Yoshida MARK HOFFMAN/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL / USA TODAY NETWORK

Red Sox outfielder blasts solo homer, grand slam in same inning

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated 4/23/23

Masataka Yoshida carried the Boston Red Sox to a victory on Sunday, in what was the best game of his young MLB career.

Stepping to the plate in the eighth inning of a 4-4 game, Yoshida started out his big show by belting a solo home run to give the Red Sox a 5-4 lead.

MASATAKA YOSHIDA WITH THE BACK-TO-BACK BLAST!

RED SOX TAKE A 5-4 LEAD IN THE 8TH!

THE OFFENSE PUNCHES RIGHT BACK!
pic.twitter.com/2Y1Gql1cpU

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) April 23, 2023

Boston then opened up the flood gates and batted around, giving Yoshida a second chance for glory. The bases were loaded for that next at-bat, which saw Yoshida launch his second homer of the stanza, a grand slam which pushed the Red Sox to a 12-4 lead in what finished as a 12-5 victory.

Masataka Yoshida's second homer of the inning was SLAMMED to right! pic.twitter.com/ySDpYYy01V

— MLB (@MLB) April 23, 2023

Yoshida has raised his average to .231 with five hits in his last three games. The former Nippon Professional Baseball star hit .321 or higher in all but one of his seven professional seasons in Japan and the Red Sox paid a total of $105.4 million (including a $15.4 million posting fee) to sign him over the winter.

Boston has now won seven of its last 10 games to improve to 12-11 on the season. Expectations were extremely low for them coming into the season, but fans should be excited to see Yoshida’s bat waking up.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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