Major League Baseball

Balentien moves within 2 homers of Japanese record

Published Sep. 8, 2013 10:27 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Former major leaguer Wladimir Balentien hit his 53rd home run of the season Sunday to move within two of Japanese baseball's season record.

Balentien has 23 regular-season games with the Yakult Swallows to reach the record of 55 set by Sadaharu Oh in 1964 and matched by ex-major leaguers Tuffy Rhodes in 2001 and Alex Cabrera in 2002.

Balentien's solo homer in the top of the sixth inning at Nagoya Dome helped the Swallows beat the Chunichi Dragons 5-1.

Balentien, who is from the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao, played for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds before signing with the Swallows in 2011. He hit 31 homers in each of his first two seasons in Japan.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball