Tomonori Maeda had his 2,000th career hit and pinch hitter Shigenobu Shima hit a go-ahead three-run homer as the Hiroshima Carp defeated the Chunichi Dragons 14-7 on Saturday.
Hiroshima's Tomonori Maeda raps out his 2,000 career hit on a two-run single off Chunichi's Yuichi
Hisamoto in the eighth inning on Saturday night at Hiroshima Stadium. The Carp won 14-7.
KYODO PHOTOAfter going hitless in his first four at-bats, Maeda lined a two-run single to right off Yuichi Hisamoto in an eight-run eighth inning to become the 36th player in Japanese baseball history to achieve the feat.
Maeda reached the plateau in his 18th season after joining Hiroshima from Kumamoto Kogyo high school. He overcame a torn right Achilles tendon sustained during the 1995 season and has hit .300 or better in 11 years, the most among active players.