Sho Nakata became the first Japanese player in over two years to homer three times in one game, Keisuke Tanimoto threw seven shutout innings, and Hokkaido Nippon Ham walloped the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 13-1 on Friday afternoon to win their third straight three-game series.
Nakata had a three-run blast to left to key a four-run first against Manabu Mima (3-2), and hit leadoff shots — straight away to center and again to left — in the third and seventh, respectively, at Kleenex Stadium.
"I wanted to give our starter Tanimoto-san as much support as I could so he could focus on pitching. I'm glad that I could get us on the scoreboard first," said Nakata, who had the first three-homer game of his pro career. "I got the tip of the bat on it (for the first homer), but the wind really carried the ball. The second one I got a prefect swing on it. The third one was the wind again," he said with a laugh.