Kosuke Fukudome just had a feeling.
The Hanshin Tigers veteran's first trip to the plate ended with a called third strike. So the bat that had remained on his shoulder in the first inning was left in the dugout when Fukudome strode to the plate in the third. He swung the new one, and the results couldn't have been better.
Fukudome connected on a two-run home run in the third inning, starter Takumi Akiyama gave his team seven good frames and the Tigers edged the rival Yomiuri Giants 4-2 in front of a crowd of 42,606 on Tuesday night at Tokyo Dome.