Yuki Yanagita hit a tie-breaking home run in his hometown as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won a battle of league leaders, beating the Hiroshima Carp 6-1 in interleague action on Friday.
The Hiroshima native, who has returned to MVP form after a slow start this season, had three hits at Mazda Stadium, including a one-out solo homer in the third inning off former big leaguer Hiroki Kuroda (4-3). Yanagita also homered off Kuroda in the preseason and said he didn't expect to repeat that performance.
"To be honest, I didn't think I'd get hits off him, so I was just giving all I had and trying my hardest," Yanagita said. "The ball found the sweet spot on the bat and carried for me so that was pretty good."