Iwakuma started for Japan and had a magnificent outing, going 7 and 2/3 innings, giving up two runs off four hits while striking out six. The Koreans started with Bong, who was at the helm for Japan’s two prior defeats against them.

Japan struck first in the top of the 3rd. Nakajima singled before Aoki reached on an error from the Korean second baseman to put men on first and second with no outs. Johjima then hit a groundout to third, and Aoki was forced out at second to put men on the corners with one out.  Ogasawara then singled to right to bring home Nakajima for 1-0 Japan. Next man Uchikawa singled to load the bases before Kurihara hit into a double play to end the inning and a chance of a more generous lead for Japan.

Japan put men on first and second with no outs in the top of the 5th, but couldn’t bring home a run, and Korea would make them pay for not extending the lead in the bottom of the 5th.  Shin-Soo Choo hit a solo homer to dead centre to tie things up at 1-1.

And tied the scores would remain until the top of the 7th inning. First man up Kataoka singled off Korean reliever Hyun Wook Jong (Bong had departed in the 5th after letting Nakajima and Aoki onboard). Kataoka promptly stole second during next man up Ichiro’s at bat, and Suzuki bunt singled himself on to put men on the corners with no outs. Nakajima then singled to leftfield to bring home his Seibu teammate Kataoka and edge Japan ahead 2-1. Aoki then flew out before Johjima hit into a double play as Japan continued to waste chances to take a bigger lead.

But extend the lead they would in the top of the 8th. Ogasawara got one of his trademark flailing strikeouts to start off the inning, then Uchikawa singled. Hyunjin Ryu then took the mound for Korea. DH Inaba, who had come into the game in the 6th for Kurihara, hit a drive down the first base line, the ball appeared to hit the first base bag and ended up in the crowd, and was called a ground-rule double. That put two men in scoring position with one away.  Iwamura then hit a sacrifice fly to leftfield, Uchikawa scored and Japan looked to be home and dry at 3-1.

But the Koreans weren’t done yet, not by a long shot.  In the bottom of the 8th, a Bum Ho Lee double put a man on second with no outs. A groundout then moved him to third before pinch hitter Dae Ho Loo hit a flyball to Aoki in centre and Bum Ho Lee came home to narrow the lead to 3-2. Sugiuchi came in to get the last out of the inning.

Japan left yet another two men on base in the top of the 9th, before the stage was set for Yu Darvish. Japan’s golden boy walked to the mound needing three outs to bring home the Championship for the Japanese. It was meant to be the fairytale ending, only the Koreans had obviously not read the script.

Things started out okay as Keun-Woo Jeong struck out swinging, before things started to stall a touch. Darvish walked Hyun-Soo Kim on four straight fastballs, and then five pitches later had walked Tae Kyun Kim to put men on first and second with only one away. Yu got things back on track with the strikeout of Shin-Soo Choo to put him and Japan one out away from glory. But next man up Bum Ho Lee then smacked the third pitch he saw through the gap into leftfield and the runner came home from second to tie the game at 3-3 with the winning run now at second. Darvish managed to hold himself together though, and struck out Young Min Ko to send the game into extra innings.

At this point, despite being heavily outhit by Japan, the momentum seemed to be with Korea. But the game would take a final twist in the top of the 10th. Yakult closer Lim Chang Yong, started the inning, his second for the evening. First man to the plate Uchikawa singled before Inaba sac-bunted to put the go-ahead run in scoring position with one out on the board.  Iwamura then singled to left to put men on the corners. Kawasaki then pinch hit for Kataoka, and he flied out to short as it looked like Japan would leave yet more men stranded.

But up stepped Ichiro, and despite an indifferent WBC to that point, he came to the plate seeking his fourth hit of the game. And hit he did, hitting a line drive to centre to bring home the two runners (Iwamura from second after he had easily stolen earlier) and put Japan back in front at 5-3.

And so to the bottom of the 10th, where Darvish had a chance to do what he couldn’t manage in the 9th. And despite walking the first man he faced, a strikeout, a flyball to centre followed by the striking out of Keun-Woo Jeong was enough to spark wild scenes of celebration for the Japanese, and glum faces all around for the Koreans. 5-3 Final.

So Japan managed 5 runs off 15 hits, 0 errors and 14 men left on base.

Korea managed 3 runs off their 5 hits, 3 errors and left 5 men on.

Despite the narrow margin of victory, this was a game that Japan should have sunk far earlier than they did as they wasted chance after chance. Johjima was the main culprit, going hitless with a walk and leaving a whopping 11 men stranded. Ogasawara, despite his solitary hit and RBI was also guilty, stranding six himself with three of his trademark strikeouts. Ichiro had a four for six night, with the key hit of the game.

Well done team Japan on a magnificent performance and WBC as a whole. Some thoughts:

Ichiro: Indifferent. Blew hot and cold throughout the tournament. But it’s the clutch 2RBI WBC winning hit for which he’ll be remembered so that’s by the by.

Aoki: Featured less offensively in the final two games but has firmly established himself as NPB’s premier position player, along with Nakajima who was also magnificent. Those two will be in MLB before too long, of that there is no doubt.

Matsuzaka: What more needs to be said about this man. Was named the 2009 WBC MVP to go alongside the award he won in 2006.

Iwakuma: NPB’s premier starter, no question. Darvish take note: watch some tapes of Iwakuma’s last two starts of the WBC, and that’s what a top pitcher looks like. Able to perform under pressure on the big stage. Yu has some ways to go in that regard I feel.

Johjima: Signs of improvement over last year’s poor showing in Seattle with the bat, despite today’s woes. Added invaluable experience and nous behind the plate for team Japan though. Key player.

Ogasawara: He’s a chump but he did OKish in the end. Not convinced that he couldn’t have been replaced by any one of a number of players and the results would have been the same if not better though.

Uchikawa: Should have been used more regularly by Hara. Proved that last year’s monster year was no flash in the pan.

Sugiuchi: The SoftBank man was the key player out of the bullpen. 6 and 1/3 innings of no hit baseball. I need say no more.

Iwamura: Respectable performance with the bat, and a valuable experienced hand to have in the infield and on the team in general.

Fukudome: Unremarkable in every way, and tellingly didn’t feature at all in the final.

Inaba: Pretty good with the bat, but he’s not a cleanup man. At least not in a team with as much talent as this one.

Murata: Seemed a big loss when he limped off versus Korea in the Pool 1 seeding game, but Japan coped well without him. Proved he’s more than just a chubby slugger, hitting for good average and bringing home a lot of runs.

Tatsunori Hara: I’m torn. He did what he was hired to do and did the job no-one else (save Bobby V) wanted by bringing home the Championship. But as with Yomiuri, I can’t help feeling his teams win despite of him and not because of him. But fair play, he brought it home. He is now downgraded from a complete fuckwit to a mere chump in my eyes. At least until the NPB season starts when he’ll level back up to a fucking stupid dipshit (apologies for the language, sincerely).

Anyway, it’s over. What a tournament, and what an amazing final. Feel free to discuss WBC 2009 below and thanks, as always, for reading.

Daisuke Matsuzaka started this one for Japan, and while not at his best, did enough to take his record in WBC play to 6-0 in his six career starts. Daisuke threw 98 pitches, two off the limit for the final set of games, going 4 and 2/3 innings of five hit two run baseball with four strikeouts and three walks.

The USA opened up the scoring in the top of the 1st, as first man to the plate, second baseman Brian Roberts blasted a leadoff shot over the centrefield wall to make it 0-1 USA.

Japan tied things up in the bottom of the 2nd. DH and cleanup Atsunori Inaba worked a walk to occupy first with no outs. Ogasawara then singled to left with Inaba hustling to third to put men on the corners with none away.  After Fukudome flew out too shallow to score Inaba, next man up Johjima got the job done properly with a deep sac-fly to right, which allowed the run to come home for 1-1.

But the USA would edge their noses ahead again in the top of the 3rd inning. Jimmy Rollins hit a two out single and then promptly stole second to put a man in scoring position. David Wright then worked the count full, before hitting a double to score Rollins and it was 1-2 USA.

But in the bottom of the 4th Japan blew the game wide open.  Consecutive singles from Inaba and Ogasawara off USA starter Roy Oswalt put men on first and second with no outs. Fukudome then hit a ball between first and second that had double play written all over it, but second baseman Roberts made a hash of it (ruled an error), allowing Inaba to score for 2-2 and Ogasawara to reach third.  Johjima then hit his second sac-fly of the game to put Japan ahead 3-2 with one out. Next man up Akinori Iwamura hit a triple to score Fukudome and make it 4-2 Japan. But Japan’s batters weren’t quite done with Oswalt yet. Third baseman Kawasaki, in for the injured Murata, singled to bring home Iwamura for 5-2 Japan.  After Ichiro grounded out, moving Kawasaki along, shortstop Nakajima hit a double to bring him home and top off the scoring for the inning at 6-2 Japan.

That was the end of Oswalt’s game, and it should probably have been over much sooner as he’d pretty much completely lost the strike zone in the 4th inning, allowing Japan to dine-out at his expense.

After the departure of Matsuzaka, Sugiuchi (1 and 1/3 inning) and Tanaka (1 inning) kept the score at 6-2 before Mahara took the mound in the top of the 8th, and the American’s threatened to get back in the game.

Ryan Braun hit a one out double to leftfield, before Brian McCann earned a walk to put men on first and second. Mark DeRossa then hit another double to left, allowing Braun to score, and McCann to follow him home following an error from Aoki. Norichika lost the ball in the corner of the Dodger Stadium outfield, and also had to contend with a stadium staff and his chair, as the USA narrowed the deficit to 6-4.

But that was as close as they would get, as Japan pulled away in the bottom of the same inning. Fukudome earned a leadoff walk and was replaced with pinch-runner Kataoka. Johjima then layed down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Kataoka to second with one out. Kataoka would make it to third on a groundout from Iwamura. Kawasaki then hit one to shortstop Derek Jeter, but the Yankee overcooked his throw to first. Kataoka was home, Kawasaki was safe, Jeter had himself an error and most importantly it was 7-4 Japan with two outs.

More misery was to come for the USA though. Ichiro came to bat, Kawasaki stole second, then Japan’s favourite Baseball Son got his nightly “rise from your grave” hit, singling to score Kawasaki for 8-4. Nakajima then wrapped up the scoring for the game, hitting a double which, due to some extremely lackadaisical fielding from rightfielder Dunn, allowed Ichiro to power home from first. 9-4 Japan.

Rather surprisingly, in came Darvish to pitch the top of the 9th, and despite giving up a hit to the always dangerous Rollins, he got his three outs and it was 9-4 Final.

So Japan managed 9 runs off 10 hits, 1 error and 6 men left on base.

The USA managed 4 runs off their 9 hits, 3 errors and left 10 men on.

The man brought over to replace Murata, Hiroshima Carp Kenta Kurihara, made an appearance in the 7th inning, pinch hitting for DH Inaba. He struck out.

Aoki was hitless for the game with an error. Nakajima, Ogasawara and Kawasaki all had two hit games, the latter reminding manager Hara why he perhaps should have been in the starting lineup sooner.

And so it’s “Japan vs Korea V” in the 2009 Final. Japan will start with the classy right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma who has an 0.73 ERA in his 12 and 1/3 innings in the 2009 Classic thus far. Korea will counter with their “Japan-Killer”, Jung Keun Bong, who can boast a 0.66 ERA in his 13 and 2/3 innings work so far. Ominously for Japan, his two victories have both come against them.

It is a mouthwatering prospect to say the least, and should be quite a game. Whatever the result, Asian baseball can be very proud of it’s progress on the world stage in 2009.

The promo code is: WBCBAG

It can be used by countless people, but only once per person. International shipping is through DHL and is pricey. If you are outside of North America, but know someone there who can receive and forward shipments to you via regular post, it would save you money.

The 15% discount applies only to WBC merch and only to the price of the item(s), not to shipping, handling, gift cards, or taxes. The offer expires 4/30/09 at 11:59 p.m. ET (5/1/09 at 12:59 p.m. Japan time.)

For those going to Dodger Stadium, it’d be worth it to check at the stadium for better prices. We have noticed that prices at the Tokyo Dome were substantially higher than on the WBC site, but prices at Dolphin Stadium were lower than on the site.
Of course, if you’re shelling out for tickets to the semi-finals or final, you’re probably not on the tightest of budgets. Our congratulations on your business savvy, your monetization of an in-demand skill, your frugal savings before this point, or your inheritance – whatever it was that made you well-off.

Given that both teams were going to the semi-finals in Los Angeles regardless of today’s result, Japanese manager Hara chose to shuffle his lineup for the game. Jojima started as DH batting 4th, Uchikawa was out in leftfield and batting 5th, Murata was at first and batted 6th, Abe came in to catch and Kataoka played third.

Utsumi started the game for Japan, and allowed Korea to take the lead in the bottom of the 1st, giving up two hits to give the Koreans a 0-1 lead. A double play allowed him to escape the inning without any further damage being inflicted.

But Japan would tie it up in the top of the 2nd. Second man up Uchikawa belted one deep over the fence in leftfield for a solo shot to make it 1-1 with one out on the board. Murata then singled to centre but advanced to second on a fielding error from the Korean centre fielder. Iwamura then hit a ground ball to short, but was safe at first due to a throwing error from short stop Choi, which also allowed Murata to advance to third to put men on the corners. Abe then struck out swinging before Kataoka hit a bloop single to right which allowed Murata to score and make it 2-1 Japan.

Utsumi plonked Yong-Kyu Lee in the head with one out in the bottom of the 3rd, and was gone one out later, replaced by Komatsu. The Orix man pitched a hitless 2 2/3 innings, striking out five before being replaced by Tanaka in the 6th.

And Tanaka would be the man to give up the tying run in the bottom of the 7th. A solo blast over the head of centre fielder Aoki and the outfield wall by the wonderfully named Korean Bum-Ho Lee tied things back up again at 2-2.

But Japan didn’t take long to reclaim the lead, and this time for good. An excellent bunt from Aoki got him an infield single to kick off the 8th. Inaba, pinch hitting for Jojima then stroked one to right to put men on the corners with no outs. Ogasawara then pinch hit for Uchikawa and promptly singled to right himself to bring home Aoki to make it 3-2 with men on first and second.  Kamei then layed down a sac-bunt to move the runners along for the first out. Next man up Iwamura singled to centre to bring Inaba home, and a fielding error from the Korean centre fielder allowed Ogasawara to make it home as well to extend the lead to 5-2 Japan.

Yamaguchi, Wakui and Mahara then all combined out of the bullpen to keep the Koreans hitless through the end of the 8th inning before Japan added an insurance run in the top of the 9th.

Ichiro got his first hit of the game, a double, with no outs on the board. After Nakajima moved Ichiro to third on a sac-bunt, Aoki poked one through the middle to bring him home and the score was 6-2 Japan.

In came ace closer Fujikawa who got the job done in the bottom of the 9th and that was the game.

So Japan managed 6 runs off 15 hits, 3 errors and 8 men left on base.

Korea managed 2 runs off their 6 hits, 3 errors and left 6 men on.

Korea’s three errors were one more than they had committed in the whole of the WBC to date.

The only cloud on an otherwise bright day for Japan was the injury to slugger Murata. The Baystars man pulled up with what looked like hamstring trouble after hitting his second single of the day and had to leave the game. Hopefully it isn’t too serious but it would appear that his participation in the 2009 WBC is over. A shame if true as he’s been excellent thus far and shall be sorely missed.

This result meant the two teams’ records are both 5-2 for the tournament as a whole, and 2-2 against each other in 2009.

Both teams now head to Dodgers Stadium, with Korea taking on Venezuela on Saturday before Japan tackle the USA on Sunday.

Japan rode to victory three days earlier on the back of six innings of five hit ball from starter Matsuzaka. After Darvish’s early troubles cost the Japanese dear on Tuesday, it was Iwakuma’s turn to step up to the mound with his nation’s status as WBC champs on the line.

And, what do you know, he was up to the task, matching Daisuke’s six inning and five hit shutout performance. Though Iwakuma’s performance wasn’t quite as sparkling as Matsuzaka’s, with two strikeouts (to Daisuke’s 8 ) and a solitary walk, it was exactly the performance Japan needed to get their WBC campaign back on track. Sugiuchi then came out of the bullpen to pitch three hitless innings and they had themselves a second consecutive shutout over the normally formidable Cubans.

Japan pulled in front in the top of the 4th off Cuban starter Maya. Aoki hit a one out single, followed by a double from Inaba to put men on second and third.  Murata then flew out to centre, but too shallow to score Aoki for the second out.  A huge slice of luck would then turn the game in their favour. Ogasawara came to the plate and hit a deep fly ball to centre.  Center fielder Cespedes, running back reached up with one hand to catch the ball but it bounced off his glove and rolled toward the outfield wall. Aoki and Inaba both scored on the error (both unearned) and Japan had themselves a 2-0 lead.

You could sense the atmosphere on the previously tense looking Japanese bench was revitalised from that point on.

And so it proved as they extended their lead in the next inning. Iwamura walked to open the 5th. Ichiro then popped up a bunt for the first out before Nakajima walked to put men on first and second. Aoki then singled through the middle allowing Iwamura home to put Japan 3-0 up.

Another run came in the 7th. Iwamura walked again before Ichiro singled to put men on first and third with no outs.  Nakajima then hit a sac-fly to left, Iwamura came home and it was 4-0 Japan.

And they wrapped up the scoring in the 9th, with Ichiro hitting a one out triple, Nakajima being hit by a pitch, and Aoki singling to bring home Ichiro for a 5-0 final.

So Japan managed 5 runs off 8 hits, 0 errors and 9 men left on base.

Cuba managed 0 runs off their 5 hits, 1 error and left 6 men on.

Other points of note:

Aoki is a god. The man was (aside from Iwakuma) easily the player of the game, batting 4 for 5 with 2 RBIs and a run. Unfortunately his continued excellence in the WBC means we’ll likely see him leave Tokyo quicker, so….shit what am I saying….!!? He had a mare.

Ichiro woke up with two hits, one of which was a trademark triple. When Ichiro hits, it seems to energise the team and Japan seems to win. Hopefully he’ll continue in the same vein from now on.

Iwamura also woke up, having a 2 for 2 night with two walks and two runs, while Jojima went hitless after his escapades of the previous day.

Murata had a hitless evening too after being moved from 4th to 5th in the lineup. Inaba was in the cleanup spot and had a 1 for 5 night with a run.

This was the first time since 1951 Cuba didn’t make the finals of one of the major international competitions. It seems of late, the Japanese have had the Cubans’ number, much like the Koreans seems to have theirs.

So it’s on to Japan vs Korea IV tomorrow. The loser will play Venezuela in the first semi-final at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, while the winner will face-off against the USA in the other semi on Sunday.

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.

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.

And so to Monday evening at Tokyo Dome, with the two old foes matching up for the right to be the No.1 seed from the Tokyo round/Pool A of the WBC (a.k.a. the right not to face Cuba first-up in San Diego).

The game resembled how games between these two teams have tended to be in recent years (besides Saturday’s anomaly), tight and cagey affairs.

Korean starter Bong, combined with three relievers to shut out the Japanese bats, limiting them to six hits over the distance.

Japan’s pitching was none too shabby either, with starter Iwakuma giving up the game’s only run in the 4th inning. The Rakuten ace gave up only two hits in his 5 1/3 innings of work, but just didn’t get any run support from his teammates.

Japan’s bats, so lethal just two days before, more closely resembled their laboured performance from the China game. Though it has to be said they were facing an entirely different standard of pitching this time around. They had their chances but just couldn’t get that big hit when it mattered.

Team Japan manager and all around bonehead Tatsunori Hara also showed his tendency to meddle to try to force the game when things don’t go his team’s way.

Firstly he replaced Yokohama’s hot hitting Uchikawa, who had such a solid game on Saturday, with the utterly, utterly, utterly ineffectual Yomiuri-man Ogasawara halfway through the game. Ogasawara then proceeded to contribute one of his trademark flailing strike-outs in the 7th inning, followed by a feeble broken-bat grounder to ultimately end the game in the 9th.

More worryingly, he conspired to mess up Japan’s best late chance to get back into the game in the 8th. Yakult’s ace closer Lim took the mound for Korea and promptly struck out the underperforming Iwamura. Ichiro then hit a one out single, his only hit of the game, to occupy first. Next up came shortstop Nakajima, one of the Japan’s star performers thus far in the classic. As he came to the plate the scoreboard showed his batting average at .500. So with one of your best hitters at the plate, and one of your fastest base runners on first, what do you do? Why instruct the batter to sacrifice bunt of course! And sacrifice he did, moving Ichiro to second, while another red light appeared by the large “O” on the scoreboard. Up came Aoki, who promptly grounded out to end the inning, leaving Ichiro stranded and Japan’s only slugger Murata to take his place in the field rather than come to the plate with men on base.

Hara. You. Are. An. Incompetent. Foolish. Fool.

Hopefully this kind of idiocy will not be a sign of things to come in later rounds, though I strongly doubt it.

Lim then sat down Murata, Inaba and useless fukwit Ogasawara in order in the 9th and that was the game.

Also of note for Japan was the performance both with the bat and behind the plate of catcher Kenji Jojima who looked commanding, punishing several Korean baserunning errors with ease.  Jojima also went 2 for 3 in the game and is now batting at .500 in the competition.

So then, it’s: WBC Tokyo Round Winners: Korea. Runners-Up: Japan.

From Tokyo, the two teams now move to San Diego for the next round of the competition. Japan will face Pool B winner (likely Cuba) at PETCO Park on Sunday afternoon, while Korea face Pool B runner-up (likely Mexico or Australia) on Sunday evening in the first of the double elimination games in Pool 1.

]]> http://tokyoswallows.com/2009/03/10/wbc-japan-0-korea-1/feed/ 0 http://tokyoswallows.com/2009/03/08/wbc-japan-14-korea-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wbc-japan-14-korea-2 http://tokyoswallows.com/2009/03/08/wbc-japan-14-korea-2/#comments Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:19:06 +0000 David Watkins http://tokyoyakultswallows.wordpress.com/?p=1944 Well, where do I start? Let’s start with the afternoon game, which saw China shock Taipei 4-1 to send Terry Collins’ Chinese team through to Sunday’s game to face the loser of the big one, Japan vs Korea. Taipei were never really in the game and have looked listless during their two outings, scoring just the one run and never really looking threatening in any way. Nevertheless it’s sad to see them, and their small army of friendly and enthusiastic fans, leave the tournament early.

So now on to the big one. Korea came into Saturday’s game looking the more menacing of the two teams, after their 9-0 taking apart of Taipei the night before, while Japan had misfired offensively in their laboured 4-0 victory over China on Thursday.

Add that to the fact that Korea have tended to get the better of Japan in these matchups in recent times, and the game was a mouthwatering prospect indeed. And so it turned out to be, but just not in the way anyone had expected.

This was the game in which Japan started to look like the team they do on paper, stuffed with talent and experience and capable of some wonderful baseball.  They knocked around four Korean pitchers to the tune of 14 hits, scoring a whopping 14 runs to Korea’s 2, before the game was called after the 7th due to the mercy rule.

Ichiro broke out of his slump with three hits for the night, and the upturn in fortunes for Japan’s talisman seemed to light a fire under the rest of the lineup as everyone bar Ogasawara and Iwamura got in on the hitting act.

Murata (3RHR in the 2nd) and Jojima (2RHR  in the 6th) both went deep as the Japanese piled on the humiliation to their fiercest rivals.

Japan’s other RBIs came from Aoki (3), Nakajima (2), Uchikawa (2) and Ogasawara (1) while Japan’s other run was walked in by Korea.

Ex-Swallow Akinori Iwamura did contribute, despite going hitless, walking twice and eventually scoring both times.

Daisuke Matsuzaka started for Japan and overcame a wobbly 1st, in which he gave up a monster two run dinger to Korean firstbaseman Kim, but after that looked relatively stable in his remaining three scoreless innings.  Watanabe and Sugiuchi pitched hitless 5th and 6th innings respectively before Iwata came in for a shaky 7th, but the Koreans were well and truly stifled.

45,000 or so people were packed into Tokyo Dome for this one and I have to say, the atmosphere was possibly the best I have ever witnessed at a ballgame in Japan. Fans were keyed up and greeted every hit as though they’d just won the tournament itself. The (Mexican) wave even made an appearance late on, with the small band of travelling Korean fans in leftfield even joining in, much to the delight of the Japanese fans.

All in all, a wonderful night, and one I’ll remember for quite sometime to come.

Japan are now guaranteed a trip to the next round of the WBC in the US. They now have a day off before they meet the winner of Sundays’s elimination game between Korea and China on Monday evening to decide the No.1 and No.2 Asian round teams.

Videos from the game can be found here (complete with plenty of entertaining mispronunciations) as well as the video recap below.

Japan 14- Korea 2

Well, maybe not that big. But what we have seen tonight is huge, and speaks to the level of international talent that is playing baseball right now. In my last post, I said that missing Alex Rodriguez would hurt the DR – but I didn’t think it would mean that the DR would lose against the Dutch.

I have to give it to the Netherlands. Tonight they showed that solid pitching and fundamentals in the field will always trump flashiness and risk-taking. Kenley Jansen, the 21 year old catcher for the Netherlands, showed what ice water in the veins really means when he threw out a baserunner at second in the bottom of the ninth. Dennis Neuman, a 19 year old AA pitching prospect in the Red Sox organization, came in and made the DR hitters look like kids. Leon Boyd wrapped things up in the ninth by making the top of the Dominican order look like they had no idea what to swing at.

Let’s not kid ourselves. The Dutch had three hits in the game, and none of those hits left the infield – overall the Dutch hitting was anemic, and they scored two runs on a Hanley Ramriez error. Pedro Martinez threw three perfect innings against the men in orange, making his case that he still has what it takes to pitch in the bigs (I’d love to see Pedro pitch for the Red Sox, but hey, you can’t have everything).

No one is betting on the Netherlands to win the WBC, and they clearly don’t have the hitting to do so, but this is a team that has guts, solid management and knows the fundamentals. Things aren’t going to get much easier for the Dutch – they still have to play Panama and/or Puerto Rico, plus maybe the DR again. Still, this is a huge upset- I would say akin to beating the Soviets at ice hockey in 1982 or so.