Kenji Akashi went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to help power the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks' 5-3 win over the Orix Buffaloes on Tuesday.
Akahashi drove in the game's first two runs with one out in the second. With runners on first and second and Orix ace Chihiro Kaneko on the mound, Akashi fouled off a pair of two-strike pitches outside before Kaneko came inside. The left-handed hitter turned on a low-inside fastball and drove it to the wall in right center for a two-run triple.
"He kept locating his pitches well, and I was saying to myself, 'Come on, don't keep throwing them there,'" said Akashi, who dropped the head and smashed Kaneko's seventh pitch.