NEW YORK — Masataka Yoshida was ready for a fastball from Yankees reliever Luke Weaver and he got one.
“He kept throwing changeups to Sogie (Nick Sogard),” Yoshida said through translator Yutaro Yamaguchi. “So I was kind of thinking that he might throw something hard and kind of up and in.”
Yoshida connected on a 95.9 mph fastball from Weaver and delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning. He helped the Red Sox win 3-1 over the Yankees in Game 1 of the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium.
“I just wanted to be aggressive from the first pitch and I was able to do that” he said.
All three pitches that Weaver threw to Sogard — who doubled to put two runners in scoring position for Yoshida — were changeups.
Yoshida, who pinch hit for Rob Refsnyder, swung at a first-pitch fastball at the top of the zone and barreled it into right-center field, turning Boston’s 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
“I was trying not to get jammed,” Yoshida said. “He’s a heater and changeup guy. So I just wanted to be under it.”
It’s been a long road this season for Yoshida, who spent April, May and June rehabbing in Fort Myers after he underwent major offseason shoulder surgery.
“I kind of reflect back on the first half of the season — I was in Fort Myers hanging out with the younger guys, right?” Yoshida said. “That was a good experience, too. But I did everything in my power to be able to come through in a situation like this.”
Yoshida struggled upon his return in July. He went 32-for-141 (.227) with a .279 on-base percentage, .326 slugging percentage and .605 OPS in 43 games from July 9-Sept. 13. But he finished the regular season as Boston’s hottest hitter, going 18-for-47 (.383) over his final 12 games.
“I think it comes down to being early,” Yoshida said. “I got my timing down and just being aggressive from the first pitch.”
This wasn’t Yoshida’s first big hit here. He hit a game-tying two-run homer during the ninth inning in a Red Sox 5-3 win at Yankee Stadium on July 5, 2024.
“Moments like this, this is something I kind of wanted to get myself in and feel it and experience it. And so that’s why I came here,” Yoshida said. “I was able to do that today.”
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