Veteran catcher Atsuya Furuta belted four homers in four at-bats Saturday to lead the Yakult Swallows to a 14-4 victory over the Hiroshima Carp.
Furuta connected for solo homers in the second and fifth innings before adding a three-run blast in the sixth and a two-run shot in the eighth at Hiroshima Stadium to tie the Japan baseball record for most homers in one game.
The other players who have also hit four home runs in a Japanese professional game are Yoshiyuki Iwamoto (1951), Sadaharu Oh (1964), Tony Solaita (1980) and Nigel Wilson (1997).
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