Balentien ends HR-drought; adds RBI's
Nederlands
TOKYO (Japan) -
Wladimir Balentien hit his 59th homerun of the season on Monday-evening and also added three RBI's the last two days.
However, he still trails Tony Blanco in RBI's, as he added seven runs batted in.
On Sunday, Balentien was 2-for-3 with two runs batted in for Yakult Swallows, which won 4-2 vs. Yokohama Bay Stars, the club of Blanco.
Before the game, Blanco led the Japanese Major League with 127 RBI's, while Balentien had 125.
In the first inning, Balentien singled in a run to give him 126.
But in the sixth at bat, Blanco batted in two runs with a single which increased his lead to 129.
Balentien got another RBI in the seventh inning via a sacrifice fly.
On Monday, the Swallows lost 6-3 to the Bay Stars, thanks primarily to Blanco.
In the third inning, Balentien hit his 59th homerun of the season.
This ended a 'homerun-drought', as it was his first fourbagger in 39 plate appearances.
But Blanco went 3-for-5, scored three runs and collected five RBI's.
In the fifth inning, he hit a 3-run homerun (which was his 150th career homerun in Japan), then added a 2-run homerun in the seventh at bat.
Blanco now has 40 homeruns and 134 runs batted in, while Balentien leads the league with 59 homeruns, but trails with 128 RBI's.
(September 30)
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