CHIBA — There's nothing like a little extra motivation to get a player going. Well that and yakiniku apparently.
With his family in the stands and his team in need of a win, Jose Ortiz came up big Tuesday night for the Chiba Lotte Marines and it couldn't have come at a better time.
Ortiz hit a home run and drove in five runs as the Marines defeated the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 12-1 at Chiba Marine Stadium to avoid a series sweep. Ortiz finished 4-for-5 and put an exclamation point on his night with a towering two-run home run to left that put Chiba Lotte up 10-1 in the sixth.