Samurai Japan star pitcher Maeda wins, homers in MLB debut – VIDEO
SAN DIEGO, U.S. — Japan National Team ace Kenta Maeda earned a win in his Major League Baseball debut, as the Los Angeles Dodgers shut out the San Diego Padres, 7-0, Wednesday night. Maeda’s second at-bat, in which he was slow to arrive to the plate and followed with a home run, produced a frenzy […]
<p>SAN DIEGO, U.S. — Japan National Team ace <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/tournaments/2015-wbsc-premier12/teams/player-stats/8137/" target="_blank">Kenta Maeda</a> earned a win in his Major League Baseball debut, as the Los Angeles Dodgers shut out the San Diego Padres, 7-0, Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Maeda’s second at-bat, in which he was slow to arrive to the plate and followed with a home run, produced a frenzy in the Dodger dugout and trended across social media platforms.</p>
<p>At the 2015 WBSC Premier12 last November, Maeda posted a 1-0 record in two starts, registering a 1.50 ERA and 14 strikeouts against only one walk in 12 innings pitched for the bronze-winning Samurai — he had no at-bats in the global championship tournament.</p>
<p>In January, <a href="https://www.wbsc.org/news/baseball-news/japan-national-team-ace-kenta-maeda-newest-member-of-mlbs-dodgers/" target="_blank">Maeda transferred to the Dodgers</a> from the Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league, as part of an 8-year, $US 25 million agreement.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="in">Kenta MAEDA Hero for Japan !! <a href="https://twitter.com/samuraijapan_pr">@samuraijapan_pr</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/premier12?src=hash">#premier12</a> <a href="https://t.co/1g63JSH9p9">pic.twitter.com/1g63JSH9p9</a></p>
<p>— WBSC (@WBSC) <a href="https://twitter.com/WBSC/status/666258341769773056">November 16, 2015</a></p></blockquote>
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