(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos courtesy of WBSC)
 Team Europe lets Game 1 slip out of its hands
Nederlands
 TOKYO (Japan) -
Team Europe was seven innings in command in Game 1 of the Global Baseball Match against Samurai Japan, but ended up short, losing 4-3.
The team led 3-1, but then the European bullpen ran into problems and gave up three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning leading to the loss.
Curt Smith was the offensive hero for Team Europe, as he batted 3-for-4, but in the end, the European bats were silenced by strong pitching from the Japanese relievers.
Despite leading only 3-1, the two-run difference appeared to be 'comfortable', as the Europeans played a good game.
In November last year, Team Samurai Japan played a 5-game series against a Major League All Star Team and won it.
Most players are now playing against Europe also were on the roster for that series.
Game 2 will be played on Wednesday, March 11, also in the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo.
Like today, the game starts at 6 PM local time (10 AM Dutch time).
The game will be broadcast live again in Europe by Eurosport 2.
Tonight (Tuesday), this station broadcast a 1 1/2 hour recap of Game 1, starting at 11 PM Dutch time.
In Game 2, lefthander Diegomar Markwell will start for Team Europe, which will be the home team.
Starting for Samurai Japan is Takahiro Matsuba, also a lefthander.
In the first inning, Curt Smith (Netherlands), the first baseman of Team Europe, registered the first basehit in the game.
He did it with two outs, but stranded on first base.
Team Europe was again productive in the second at bat and then also opened the score off of starter Daichi Ohsera.
Kalian Sams (Netherlands) drilled the ball into right-center, then showed some agressive running to stretch his hit into a double.
Next batter, Yurendell de Caster (Netherlands) then hit the ball through the middle.
Second baseman Ryosuke Kikuchi made a nice stop of the ball, was able to throw it to first base, but the throw was just off-base and so De Caster reached on an infield-hit.
Next, Oscar Angulo (Spain) grounded into a nice double play, but that enabled Sams to score the first European run.
Team Europe-starter Rob Cordemans (Netherlands) encountered no problems in his first inning.
The 40-year old veteran walked Hayato Sakamoto with two outs, but he stranded on first base.
In the second at bat for Samurai Japan, the number one of the world ranking list of the WBSC got into scoring position.
With one out, Nobuhiro Matsuda hit the ball off the wall in leftfield for a double, then Tetsuto Yamada walked with two outs.
After the two advanced on a passed ball to second and third base, Cordemans remained calm.
He got to a quick full count on batter Motohiro Shima, but he then grounded out to short stop Angulo to end the inning.
Alessandro Maestri (Italy) took over the European pitching in the third inning and also did fine.
He gave up an infield-hit to Hayato Sakamoto with two outs, in front of catcher Dashenko Ricardo (Netherlands), but then the inning ended when second baseman Alessandro Vaglio (Italy) made a nice catch on a foul pop-fly near the stands at first base-side.
...Curt Smith...
...3 Hits, 1 Run...
(© Photo: WBSC) |
Team Europe then enlarged its lead in the top of the fourth inning by adding two runs off of new pitcher Kazuhisa Makita of the Saitama Seibu Lions.
He was greeted with a lead-off single by Curt Smith (Netherlands), the Most Valable Player of last years European Championship in the Czech Republic, where the Netherlands re-captured the European title for the first time since 2007.
Next batter Fernando Martinez (Spain) was hit by a pitch, but then two pop-ups followed off of Makita, a side-arm, sub-marine pitcher.
And so, when it appeared that Team Europe might strand its two runners, it was Alessandro Vaglio, who drilled the ball into deep centerfield.
There, centerfielder Yuhei (Tokyo Yakult Swallows) went after the ball, but was just out of reach.
With his double, Vaglio brought in the two runners and increased the European lead to 3-0.
Samurai Japan then first got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning off of Maestri, who gave up back-to-back doubles with two outs.
First, Yuhei hit a nice double down the rightfield-line, then Tetsuto Yamada doubled into leftfield to narrow the deficit to 3-1.
Maestri then walked Motohiro Shima walked, but more runs were prevented when a grounder ended the bat.
After Team Europe was retired in order in the top of the fifth, the European defense turned a nice double play in the home half.
In the top of the sixth inning, Curt Smith led off of new pitcher Shintaro Fujinami and connected for his third basehit in the game.
The righthander of the Hanshin Tigers then struckout Fernando Martinez (Spain) and Kalian Sams (Netherlands).
But he then ran into problems and got the bases loaded when Yurendell de Caster (Netherlands) singled and Oscar Angulo (Spain) was hit by a pitch.
Fujinami got out of the jam and avoided giving up runs by ending the inning by striking out Dashenko Ricardo.
Venezuelan-born José Escalona (Italy) became the new pitcher for Team Europe in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The lefthander encountered no problems and quickly retired three batters in a row.
After the Europeans also were retired in order in the top of the seventh inning, Escalona took the mound again in the bottom half.
With one out, the lefthander walked Tsubasa Aizawa, who had entered the game inning before as new catcher for Samurai Japan.
Aizawa appeared to make a swing on the last pitch, but according to the first base-umpire Chang, he checked his swing in time.
After reaching first base, Aizawa was replaced by pinch-runner Yoshihiro Maru, who then was forced out on a following grounder by Yuki Yanagita, who then stranded.
...Yuhei...
...gamewinning hit...
(© Photo: WBSC) |
Katsuki Matayoshi became the fourth pitcher for Samurai Japan in the top of the eighth inning and retired the side.
He went on to become the winning pitcher, thanks to a very productive eighth Japanese at bat.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shairon Martis (Netherlands) took over the European pitching.
Martis, who in 2006 threw a No-Hitter for Team Netherlands in the first World Baseball Classic, last season pitched in the professional Taiwanese league.
The righthander, who threw some pitches in the ground, first walked lead-off hitter Hayato Sakamoto.
He then faced Sho Nakata, who drilled the ball into leftfield where the ball ended up in the seats, but on the wrong side of the foul-pole.
Nakata then walked and that marked the end for Martis, who was replaced by Loek van Mil (Netherlands).
The tallest pitcher in professional baseball last season pitched in Japan, but this season will return in the Dutch big league, pitching for Curaçao Neptunus.
He also wasn't successful, as Samurai Japan turned the game its way by connecting well off of Van Mil, who gave up three consecutive basehits.
First, Yoshitomo Tsutugoh doubled down the leftfield-line to bring in Sakamoto, then Nobuhiro Matsuda singled through the middle, which brought in Nakata and tied the score.
Hereafter, Yuhei also singled through the middle and that led to a 4-3 lead for the Japanese squad.
Van Mil then recovered and struckout Tetsuto Yamada and Yoshihiro Maru, who had remained in the game after entering as pinch-runner and had become the new rightfielder in the top of the eighth inning.
Next batter Seiji Kobayashi (who had become the new catcher in the 8th) then grounded out to end the inning, but Japan had taken the lead.
In the top of the ninth, closer Yuji Nishino took the mound for Japan.
Yurendell de Caster led off and hit the ball into deep rightfield, but there Maru made a catch just in front of the wall.
Nishino then struckout next batter Oscar Angulo.
Hereafter, pinch-hitter Gianison Boekhoudt also struckout to end the game, resulting in some very disappointed faced in the European dug-out.
| Samurai Japan - Team Europe 4-3 |
| R | H | E |
| Team Europe | 010 | 200 | 000 | - | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Samurai Japan | 000 | 100 | 03X | - | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| pitchers Europe | inn. | SO | BB | H | R | ER |
| Rob Cordemans (Netherlands) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - |
| Alessandro Maestri (Italy), H (1) | 3 | - | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| José Escalona, H (1) | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Shairon Martis | - (*) | - | 2 | - | 2 | 2 |
| Loek van Mil, BS (1), L (0-1) | 1 | 2 | - | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| (*) - Martis pitched to two batters in the eighth inning |
| pitchers Japan | inn. | SO | BB | H | R | ER |
| Daichi Ohsera | 3 | 2 | - | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Kazuhisa Makita | 2 | - | - | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Shintaro Fujinami | 2 | 3 | - | 2 | - | - |
| Katsuki Matayoshi, W (1-0) | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Yuji Nishino, SV (1) | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - |
Umpires: HP-, 1B-, 2B-, 3B-.
Time-2:57 hr. |
|
...Team Europe poses before the game... |
...And this is Team Samurai Japan... |
...Team Europe Manager Steve Janssen with Riccardo Fraccari, the President of the WBSC... |
...Managers Steve Janssen and Hiroki Kokubo have a chat during batting practice... |
...The umpire crew in this series comes from Chinese Taipei... |
...Managers Steve Janssen and Hiroki Kokubo... |
...A look in the Japanese dug-out... |
...And this is the European dug-out... |
...The players of Team Europe are introduced... |
...Here, the players of Samurai Japan enter the field... |
...The players listen to the national anthems... |
...Yurendell de Caster is forced out in the 2nd inning by 2nd baseman Ryosuke Kikuchi, who starts a double play... |
...More than 21,000 spectators attended the game in the Tokyo Dome... |
...1B Curt Smith and Manager Steve Janssen were clearly disappointed during the press conference afterwards...
(© All Photos courtesy of WBSC) |
(March 10)
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