Munetaka Murakami ripped his first grand slam of the season Tuesday, his 36th homer propelling the Tokyo Yakult Swallows to a 5-2 win over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the Central League.
Yakult opened the game with three straight singles off DeNA starter Yuya Sakamoto (4-5) before Murakami pulled the lefty's first-pitch breaking ball over the right-field fence at Yokohama Stadium for the decisive lead.
"I was trying to get a hit from the first pitch. (The breaking ball) wasn't in my mind but I could react well, and it brought the best possible result," Murakami said. "I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it."