Baseball: Laird ties NPB homer record as Nippon Ham down Marines

Brandon Laird became the 20th player to go deep in four consecutive at-bats in Nippon Professional Baseball on Saturday as the Nippon Ham Fighters defeated the Lotte Marines 11-6 in the Pacific League.A day after hitting two two-run homers before drawing two walks in Nippon Ham's 15-1 demolition of Lotte, Laird belted a solo shot in the second inning. He again took Lotte starter Kota Futaki, who lasted three innings allowing five runs, deep in the third, this time for two runs to give his team a 5-1 lead.Laird grounded into a double play in his next trip to the plate in the fifth. But the A…READ FULL ARTICLE