Boston Red Sox fans elated as Masataka Yoshida extends hit streak to 13 games, team wins fifth in a row: "He is literally Japanese Barry Bonds"

Boston Red Sox rookie outfielder Masataka Yoshida extended his hitting streak to 13 games on Wednesday night in an 8-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Yoshida went 2-for-5 to raise his batting average to .303 on the season while on the longest active hitting streak in MLB. He was hitting just .167 when the streak began back on April 20 against the Minnesota Twins.

Masataka Yoshida came to the Boston Red Sox from his native Japan on a five-year, $90 million contract. He initially struggled over the first three weeks of the season but began putting things together in mid-April.

Many MLB evaluators figured that the type of raw power that Masataka Yoshida showed while playing in Japan would not translate to the Red Sox. However, it was believed that he would hit for a good average in the majors by hitting the ball hard to all fields rather than being a constant pull hitter.

However, he's hit for average as well as power during the streak. In addition to six multi-hit games during the run, he also has four doubles and four home runs.

The 29-year-old played seven seasons with the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League. The left-handed slugger batted .327 with 133 home runs and 467 RBIs in 762 games with the Buffaloes.

A four-time NPB All-Star and two-time Pacific League batting champion, Yoshida led the league in OPS in both 2021 (.992) and 2022 (1.008). He won the 2022 Japan Series title with Orix and helped lead Japan to the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games as well as the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Not only is Yoshida on a red-hot streak, but so are the Boston Red Sox. After winning just three games in 19 tries against the Blue Jays in 2022, Boston is 3-for-3 against Toronto in 2023.

The Red Sox have won five in a row, and seven out of their last 10. They are four games over .500 at 18-14, but are still 7.5 games behind the lead pace of the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa Bay sports MLB's best record at 25-6.

Life was hard for Boston Red Sox fans in 2022, but so far 2023 is proving to be a different story. The team is beginning to win over its many critics.

Masataka Yoshida, Boston Red Sox look to stay on a roll

Alex Verdugo #99 of the Boston Red Sox and Enrique Hernandez #5 of the Boston Red Sox high-five after the victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park

Masataka Yoshida will look to improve his hitting streak to 14 games as the Red Sox hope to make it a clean sweep in the four-game series against Toronto when the two teams take the field at 5:10 p.m. on Thursday.