Japan announced their arrival in the second round of the 2009 WBC with a comprehensive victory over the much fancied Cubans in San Diego on Sunday afternoon.
The victory was based around strong pitching, with a majestic start from Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Japanese ace pitched 6 innings of five hit ball, striking out eight and walking none. Iwakuma, Mahara and Fujikawa pitched an inning each in relief to shut out the Cuban bats that had been so frightening in the previous round.
Hara made a couple of changes to the batting lineup, Kataoka replacing his Seibu teamate Nakajima at short, Ogasawara was the DH while Uchikawa started at first.
Young pitching phenom Chapman started for the Cubans, a man who can throw a plus 100mph heater one pitch and follow it up with a sub 80mph breaking ball the next. Chapman was not on his greatest form Sunday though, walking Ogasawara and Uchikawa in the 2nd, but escaped as he picked off the daydreaming Ogasawara at first followed by Uchikawa trying to steal second.
Japan got on the board in the top of the 3rd. Jojima hit a single to centre to lead off the inning. Iwamura singled to put men on first and second. Ichiro then layed down one of his trademark bunts, but Jojima’s lack of speed meant he was thrown out at third, to leave two men on with one out.
Kataoka then singled to load the bases, which was the last action Chapman saw as Cuba went to the bullpen. The new pitcher Gonzalez promptly threw two strikes past Aoki before a wild pitch allowed Iwamura to score from third and the runners to advance to make it 1-0 Japan. Aoki then blooped a single to right which allowed another run to score and it was 2-0. Next man Murata hit a sacrifice fily to right to allow Kataoka to score to make it 3-0 Japan.
The bottom of the 3rd saw the sun come into play, as Ichiro droped a Paret fly ball in foul territory for a rare error, followed by Jojima dropping one behind the plate for a second error. Matsuzaka then took matters into his own hands and struck out Paret looking to let his two teammates off the hook.
Japan added on a run in the 4th. The bright conditions came into play again as a Jojima fly ball to right was lost in the sun by the Cuban fightfielder Despaigne and Jojima was able to reach second. Iwamura then singled before Ichiro brought home Jojima for 4-0.
And another came in the 5th. Murata was hit by a pitch to put him on first with one out. Ogasawara hit a line drive to right, with Murata hustling on the basepaths to put men on first and third. Uchikawa then poked one through the middle to score his Yokohama teammate and extend the lead to 5-0.
Japan’s final run would come in the top of the 9th. Kawasaki, pinch hitting for Kataoka, singled before Aoki sac-bunted to move him to second with one out. Next man Murata then singled to score Kawasaka to bring the scoring to a close at 6-0.
So Japan managed 6 runs off 12 hits, 2 errors and 9 men left on base.
Cuba managed 0 runs off their 8 hits, 0 errors and left 6 men on.
Other points of note in the game:
Iwamura, who struggled in the Tokyo round, went 2 for 3 with a run and a walk, to add valuable production from the bottom of the order.
Ogasawara, while getting himself two hits still showed his chump-like tendencies by allowing himself to be picked off at first in the 2nd. Also, while on second base in the 5th, with Uchikawa on first and Fukudome at the plate, a wild pitch that should have allowed the runners to advance almost saw Uchikawa thrown out retreating to first. Ogasawara was seemingly daydreaming again and moved not a jot, as Uchikawa made the jump toward second. Sure, Uchikawa should have followed the lead (or lack of it) of the man at second, but it was an opportunity lost because of Ogasawara’s sloth-like reactions. Fukudome eventually singled but that would only move the Yomiuri man to third, which is as far as he advanced that inning.
Jojima seems to have brought his good form from the last round with him as he went 2 for 4 with a run. Good news for fans of both Japan and the Mariners.
I opted to avoid the endless commercials by watching the game on Satellite TV instead of Japanese terrestrial coverage. MLB international supplied the footage and English commentary to boot. Aside from the continual botched pronnunciations (Norichika AYoki anyone?), it was interesting to note that whenever stats were listed on the screen for the Japanese, the Japanese league recieved a name change from NPB to NBL. I didn’t realise that I’d been watching the Nippon Baseball League all these years! Come on MLB, is it too hard to employ someone to make sure you get the simplest of things (such as the name of the Japanese equivalent of the MLB) right?
So Japan now get a day off to watch Cuba play the loser of the Mexico-Korea matchup, and they will play the winner of said game on Tuesday evening for a place in the semi-finals.
About David Watkins
