This one did not start well for Yu Darvish and team Japan. Darvish threw far more balls than strikes in the first inning of this game. His first three pitches were balls above the strike zone, and his first two pitches to Korea’s second, third and fourth batters were outside the zone. Behind in the count against most of the batters he faced, he wasn’t able to get into a groove, and things got a little out of hand. Darvish was mercifully let out of this one by way of a broken-bat 6-4-3 double play, but not before being tagged with three runs. 3-0 Korea (after one inning).
But Darvish calmed down after that. He started locating his slider a little bit better in the second and he struck out all three batters he faced. He also looked to be in very good control during the third and fourth innings where he was able to get four infield ground outs, an infield pop fly and a strikeout. He also recorded one strikeout and gave up only one hit during those two innings.
In the fifth he retired all three batters he faced including two guys striking out swinging. His last pitch of the game was a 94 mph heater. The Yu Darvish that left the game at the end of the fifth was a very different pitcher from the one that limped to the bench after the first.
Team Japan got a run in the top of the fifth when Ichiro managed to bring Fukudome in from third on yet another force out (Iwamura thrown out at second). 3-1 Korea.
Then the pitching changes started, and the game slowed way down. The only thing of note to occur over the next two innings was that Johjima was ejected from the game for leaving his bat in the box in protest of a called third strike that he disagreed with. This meant that Ishihara had to come in and catch, so only Abe was left in the bullpen. That, of course, made things more challenging for Japan’s manager, Hara, as there was no element of surprise involved with who would be the next pitcher coming out of Japan’s bullpen.
Then things fell apart a little bit more. Korea loaded the bases in the bottom of the eigth with the help of three walks–two by Wakui (the second intentional) and then one by his replacement, Iwata. Iwata then got two quick strikes on the next batter but ended up giving him a free pass to first in the end which resulted in an insurance run crossing the plate. 4-1 Korea.
In the top of the ninth, Japan’s last chance, Inaba got things started with a single up the middle, and Fukudome managed to move him over to second, but that was as far as things got. Tokyo Swallows closer, Chang-yong Lim, came in to button things up for team Korea. He got Abe (Japan’s third catcher of the night to make it into the lineup) to fly out harmlessly to left before Iwamura was called out on a check-swing third strike.
Final score: Korea 4-1 Japan.
Observations:
Korea’s first baseman, Tae-kyun Kim, has a good glove. He made three great plays at first. Nothing got by him in this game.
Darvish looked like his old self by the end of the fifth. His slider was nasty at that point, and he was flirting with both sides of the plate with a lot more confidence. Mixing in the curve ball was also a nice touch.
Ichiro still doesn’t have a hit in the second round of this tournament.
About Christopher Pellegrini
