It was a moment worth savoring Monday night for Boston Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida.
Yoshida has hit plenty of home runs during his professional baseball career, but none were like the one he crushed in Boston’s 7-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Fenway Park.
Yoshida smacked the first home run of his Major League Baseball career in the bottom of the first when he belted a high 96 mph fastball from Pirates righty Johan Oviedo and sent it into seats on top of the Green Monster.
The 29-year-old Yoshida basked in his achievement once he got back to the Red Sox dugout, too, and got a chance to show off Boston’s new home run celebration prop, which is a pair of inflatable dumbbells.
“Everybody celebrated to me,” Yoshida told reporters through a translator, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “Everybody was so excited. I was so happy.”
There was only one thing missing from the thrilling moment. Unlike his first hit in the majors on Opening Day, Yoshida didn’t get his home run ball back as a keepsake yet with the fan who came up with the ball planning to hold on to it.
“I hope that ball is coming back one day,” Yoshida said. “Obviously today we lost. That’s more disappointing.”
Yoshida’s home run is just his latest contribution to the surging offense of the Red Sox. Through four games this season, he’s batting .294 with the homer and five RBIs from the cleanup spot in the order.
“I’m very happy for him,” Rafael Devers told reporters through a translator, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “We know the kind of player that he is. He’s a player who can hit for power. He can do it all. I’m happy to be his teammate to be able to play with him.”
Yoshida will look to keep making an offensive impact Tuesday when the Red Sox continue their series with the Pirates. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
