Seiya Hosokawa celebrated the best baseball birthday of his pro career, homering twice and driving in six runs Friday for the Chunichi Dragons in an 11-1 beating of the Yakult Swallows.
Hosokawa, who spent the bulk of his first six pro seasons on the DeNA BayStars' farm team, was serenaded by fans singing "Happy Birthday" at the Dragons' Vantelin Dome Nagoya, and everything went the 25-year-old's way from there.
With two on and two out in the first inning, his pop up to shallow right fell uncaught for a fluke two-run double. He then helped roll up the score on the two-time defending CL champions with a pair of two-run homers, giving him 16 on the season.
The BayStars' fifth-round draft pick in 2016, Hosokawa never had more than 83 plate appearances in a season in Yokohama, and took advantage of last year's active-player draft to move to another team in search of playing time.
"I never had a birthday on the first team before, because I so rarely started, so hearing the fans cheer me today was super," Hosokawa said. "The ball I hit in the first was not good, but it went for a hit, so I could relax at the plate after that."
Elsewhere in the CL, the league-leading Hanshin Tigers beat DeNA 5-2, while the Hiroshima Carp came from a run down in the ninth to walk off the Yomiuri Giants 4-3.
In the Pacific League, the Seibu Lions beat the league-leading Orix Buffaloes 3-2, the Nippon Ham Fighters won a 5-4, 11-inning decision over the SoftBank Hawks, and the Lotte Marines got past the Rakuten Eagles 5-3.
