Brandon Laird drove in a go-ahead, two-run double in the ninth inning to help the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters beat the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 2-0 and earn their first win of the seasonon Tuesday.
Before a crowd of 26,662 at Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi, Eagles reliever Yuki Matsui (0-1) loaded the bases by allowing three singles before Laird delivered the winning hit between left and center field.
"It felt good, I knew it would be a hit. I wanted to give our closer (Naoya) Ishikawa a couple of runs for support," the 30-year-old American said. "I tried to put the ball up in the zone, and tried to give a chance to the runner on third. I put a good swing to it, and went for a double."