Red Sox News: Masataka Yoshida’s two-homer inning is something legendary

There is a trend going on with this Boston Red Sox team that is too hard to ignore.  They just can’t be counted out and that continued Sunday afternoon with a 12-5 win against the Milwaukee Brewers which featured Masataka Yoshida flexing his muscles with a two-homer game.

Oh, and those two homers were both in the same inning as the Sox exploded for nine runs in the eighth inning to turn a 4-3 deficit into an improbable blowout.

Yup, Yoshida silenced American Family Field with the two homers, which included a grand slam.

In becoming the first player since 2013 to blast two homers in one inning, Yoshida silenced his doubters and also helped lead the Sox to a series win over a quality opponent like the Brewers.

Boston Red Sox rookie Masataka Yoshida joins joins a legendary list

With the feat that included his first MLB grand slam, Yoshida was all smiles and overall thrilled to join the likes of David Ortiz, Nomar Garciaparra and Ellis Burks as players to hit two homers in an inning.

"“I’m really honored to record this,” Yoshida said, via MLB.com.  “I’m really honored to [be alongside] Red Sox legends.”"

In an inning that started off with back-to-back solo blasts from Justin Turner and Yoshida ended with some insurance as “Masa” came up later in the inning to give the Red Sox some cushion with the 407-foot grand slam.

It was a display of power Yoshida isn’t particularly known for, but the Red Sox knew he was capable of when they signed him out of Japan in the offseason.   With Rafael Devers off to a hot start and with the production Sox offense has been getting from players like Alex Verdugo and Turner as of late, getting Yoshida going gives the offense more punch, which showed in that eighth inning.

More importantly for Yoshida, he broke out of a little slump as he entered the game hitting must .213.  As an artist at the plate, some adjustments made by Yoshida finally showcased results on Sunday afternoon.

"“Intent,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Yoshida’s offensive performance.  “Staying the other way.  He swings at the right ones, obviously.  There are some adjustments, and there’s things that he knows he needs to do to start hitting the ball hard in the air.  He got two pitches today.  The second one, that was fun to watch.”"

Yes, this entire Red Sox offense has been fun to watch.  Again, Devers is doing his thing as he continues to prove he is one of the best hitters in all of baseball, but there is some offensive punch coming from other bats in the lineup like Yu Chang, Verdugo and a rejuvenated Jarren Duran.

Production from those players are well applauded, but the Sox need players like Yoshida and Triston Casas to do their thing along with Devers.

While the power-hitting promise of Casas is still struggling,  the Boston Red Sox hope Sunday’s flexing at the plate is just a glimpse of what’s to come from Masataka Yoshida.