MILWAUKEE — Every day has been an adjustment for Masataka Yoshida since he arrived at spring training in February.
A $90 million contract to play left field for the Red Sox didn’t shield Yoshida from the challenge of adapting to a new country and culture while concurrently trying to succeed in a new league after playing seven seasons in Japan.
It’s a gradual process graded in ways that don’t necessarily show up in the box score, but it did on Sunday. Yoshida drove in six runs, five with a pair of home runs in the eighth inning, the second one a grand slam, as the Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 12-5.
In this case, the adjustment was measured in the few inches Yoshida moved his right foot to open his stance at the plate so he could get a better look at the pitcher. It came at the recommendation of hitting coach Pete Fatse.
“I felt more comfortable in this series,” Yoshida said via a translator. “I talked to the hitting coach about my mechanics and hitting form and found a better one . . . I feel more comfortable with the timing.”
Yoshida was hitting .167 with a .560 OPS through his first 13 games, not entirely unexpected how differently pitchers were attacking him compared to what he was used to. Instead of split-finger fastballs, there were changeups. Cutters were confounding, too.
Shifting his stance allowed Yoshida to get both eyes on the ball, giving him a better chance to read spin and react faster. He is 7 of 17 in the four games since, with nine RBIs and only four strikeouts.
“He swings at the right ones,” manager Alex Cora said. “There’s an adjustment and things he knows he needs to do to hit the ball hard in the air.”
Their biggest inning of the season turned around a game that was looking like a loss for the Sox.
Brayan Bello, who allowed five runs over 2⅔ innings in his first start of the season, gave up three and pitched into the fifth inning this time. The Sox backed Bello with three runs off Brewers ace Corbin Burnes, Yoshida driving in one of them with a sacrifice fly in the first inning.
In a 3-3 game, Cora went to one of his low-leverage relievers, Kaleb Ort, for the seventh. The move was, in part, a product of the Sox using a six-man rotation and the bullpen being short an arm.
Ort walked Joey Wiemer on four pitches, then failed to pay attention as he stole second. Blake Perkins sacrificed to put the go-ahead run at third.
After another walk, Ort threw a slider nowhere near the plate for a wild pitch that sent Wiemer home, and the Brewers had a 4-3 lead.
Milwaukee jabbed for that run. The Red Sox came back with roundhouse punches as Justin Turner and Yoshida led off the eighth inning with home runs off Matt Bush. Kiké Hernandez doubled and took third on a lineout to right field by Triston Casas. Jarren Duran then walked and stole second.
Facing Javy Guerra, Connor Wong singled to drive in two runs. Yu Chang — who has played high-level defense at shortstop the last week — singled before the Brewers intentionally walked Rafael Devers with two outs to load the bases.
Turner drew a four-pitch walk to force in a run. Yoshida then hammered a two-strike hanging slider deep to right field for his first slam in the majors.
As the ball soared into the seats, many in the crowd of 26,939 at American Family Field hustled for the exits.
“Happy for him,” Turner said. “Obviously [he was] grinding a little bit early. To get some good results is good for him and good for the Red Sox.”
Yoshida is the first Sox player with two home runs in the same inning since David Ortiz against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park on Aug. 12, 2008.
“I’m really honored,” Yoshida said. “He’s a Red Sox legend.”
It was the third consecutive series victory for the 12-11 Sox, something they hadn’t done since last June. They have won seven of 10 overall.
Taking two of three on the road against the 15-7 Brewers is a building block. The eighth inning was a character test they aced.
“It’s a team that’s going to grind until you tell us the inning’s over,” Cora said. “It’s 23 games. I don’t want to say this is who we are, but it seems like this is who we are.”
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at peteabeglobe.bsky.social.