Chicago Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki set a career high with his 15th home run of the major league season and Masataka Yoshida matched it with the 15th homer of his rookie season for the Boston Red Sox, as the Japanese players helped their respective teams to wins on Monday.
Suzuki drove in the game's first two runs and finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs in the Cubs' 5-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field.
The 29-year-old hit a solo home run in the second inning and a run-scoring double in the seventh before driving in another on a fielder's choice in the eighth.
"I put a good swing on a fat pitch," Suzuki said of his home run that flew over the center-field wall. The former Hiroshima Carp star hit 14 home runs last year, his first year in the majors.
Cubs left-hander Justin Steele (16-3) allowed just two hits and struck out 12 over eight innings. Right-hander Logan Webb (9-12) of the Giants took the loss.
The Cubs won in the opener of a seven-game home stand against the Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks, both rivals in the National League playoff race.
"I'm glad we took the first game," Suzuki said. "I just want to keep playing like this until the end."
At Tropicana Field, Red Sox left fielder Yoshida hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, one of his two hits in a 7-3 come-from-behind win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani was scratched from the starting lineup for the day's game against the Baltimore Orioles because of right oblique tightness.