Former Dodger Jerry Sands delivered the big blow for the Hanshin Tigers as they beat the Yokohama DeNA BayStars 7-5 in a Central League slugfest on Sunday.
Sands broke a 5-5 tie in the seventh inning with a two-out, two-run home run over Koshien Stadium's center-field fence. Sands walked, reached on an error, and scored twice in four plate appearances as the league-leading Tigers overcame a tough fight from the last-place BayStars.
"In that seventh inning, we did good getting guys into scoring positions," Sands said of the situation after teammate Yusuke Oyama tied the game with a sacrifice fly. "I just wanted to hit a ball that would give us the lead and luckily it went out."