Shohei Ohtani went deep for the second straight game for the Los Angeles Angels on Monday while the Boston Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida blasted his first MLB home run.
Two-way star Ohtani, batting third as the designated hitter at T-Mobile Park against the Seattle Mariners, broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run homer in the fifth inning during the Angels' 7-3 win.
The World Baseball Classic MVP in March launched his second homer in two days, sending a 1-1 changeup from George Kirby over the center-field wall.
Boston's new acquisition Yoshida, meanwhile, homered in the first inning in the Boston Red Sox's 7-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Batting cleanup in all four games so far this season, Yoshida belted Johan Oviedo's high 1-0 four-seamer for an opposite-field two-run shot over the Green Monster at Fenway Park, tying the game at 3-3.
"I was able to get a good swing and felt I made a good contact," said Yoshida, who set a WBC record of 13 RBIs to help Japan win the tournament for the third time.
After returning to the dugout, Yoshida enjoyed being presented with inflatable toy dumbbells, something that fans at his former team the Orix Buffaloes used to bring along to games for his at-bats.
"I don't know who brought them. They really brought the team together," Yoshida said, adding he did not get his home run ball back as a keepsake.
"I'm praying it will come back to me eventually. We lost the game, and that is the even sadder thing."
Jason Delay broke a 5-5 tie in the fourth with a solo homer and Bryan Reynolds added a shot of his own later in the inning to score the decisive seventh run for the Pirates.
Yoshida, a two-time Pacific League batting champion with 133 home runs over seven seasons, all with Orix, signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the Red Sox, the biggest deal for a Japanese position player moving to the majors from Nippon Professional Baseball.
"We're having exciting and electrifying games," said Yoshida, after the Red Sox began the season with four high-scoring games, winning and losing twice each. "I hope to keep energizing the team with my play."