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Big 3-HR Day for Kato Monday, June 19th, 2034 It's a rare event when a player hits three homers in a game and rarer still when he does it and loses. It happened at Ballpark of Hakui College today, as Takahiro Kato of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters unloaded three times against the ORIX Buffaloes but was still bumped off 15-9 by the Buffaloes. "We were lucky to win today," said ORIX skipper Steve Richards. "You can't give up that many home runs and expect to win on a regular basis." For the game, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham right fielder had 4 hits in 5 at-bats, scored 3 times, and drove in 7. Kato spoke to the writers in the postgame press room with mixed feelings, saying he was sad to lose but happy to be seeing the ball well. "I was just trying to swing early and often to give myself a chance," he said. "I let the pitcher supply all the power and try to figure out how to get the bat on the ball." Takahiro Kato struck out in the 1st, singled in the 3rd, hit a two-run home run off Jared Peters in the 5th, hit a three-run home run off Jared Peters in the 7th and hit a two-run home run off Dustin Leach in the 9th. For the year Kato has hit .330 with 12 home runs, 36 RBIs and scored 28 runs. |
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