New York – Yoshitomo Tsutsugo made his long-anticipated major league debut with a fifth-inning, two-run home run on Friday, but the Tampa Bay Ray lost 6-4 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Tsutsugo, who signed with the Rays over the winter, blasted an opposite-field home run off Blue Jays starter Ryu Hyun-jin with his team trailing 6-1 at Tropicana Field in Florida.
A day after Major League Baseball opened its delayed season, Tsutsugo grounded out in his first plate appearance and was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning, making the homer his first hit in the majors.
The Blue Jays scored three runs in the fourth inning and extended the lead with Cavan Biggio’s three-run homer in the top of the fifth.
The 28-year-old Tsutsugo moved to the majors after 10 seasons with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
At Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Shogo Akiyama became the first Japanese player to suit up for the Cincinnati Reds and hit an RBI single in his first at-bat. The Reds defeated the Detroit Tigers 7-1.
With the Reds leading 4-1 in the sixth, Akiyama entered the game as a pinch hitter and singled on a ground ball to center field. He grounded out in his other at-bat in the eighth.
In Oakland, two-way star Shohei Ohtani hit a single in his first at-bat of the season for the Los Angeles Angels.
Major League Baseball opened its season after a four-month delay due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Every team will play 60 games. Teams will be playing 40 games against opponents in their own division and 20 interleague games against teams in the corresponding geographic division from the other league.
Source : Baseball – The Japan Times