(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos courtesy of WBSC)
 Team Europe convincingly wins Game 2
Nederlands
 TOKYO (Japan) -
After having narrowly lost the opener, Team Europe today (Wednesday, March 11) wom Game 2 of the Global Baseball Match against Samurai Japan with a convincing 6-2 score at the immense Tokyo Dome, the home of the famous Yomiuri Giants in the Japanese capital.
The game was highlighted by a 3-run homerun by Yurendell de Caster.
In the attractive first game, Team Europe initially played very well and was en route to a possible upset victory against Samurai Japan, the all-pro team compiled from players of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
The team, led by Manager Steve Janssen was leading 3-1, but then things went wrong in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Relievers Shairon Martis (2) and Loek van Mil (3) allowed the first five batters to reach base safely, resulting in three runs and eventually the 4-3 loss.
,,We're ready to go again'', Steve Janssen stated before today's game and he proofed his words, as Team Europe dominated in another attractive match-up.
The Belgian Manager of the Netherlands National Team had made a few changes in his starting line-up as opposed to yesterday.
Michael Duursma (Netherlands) was the third baseman instead of Juan Carlos Infante (Italy), Mario Chiarini (Italy) was in rightfield instead of Fernando Martinez (Spain) and Blake Ochoa (Spain) was behind the plate instead of Dashenko Ricardo (Netherlands).
The batting order was almost the same.
Duursma was in his familiar lead-off spot (as was Infante in Game 1), while Kalian Sams and Yurendell de Caster (both Netherlands) moved up a spot, as Martinez (who was the clean-up hitter yesterday) today didn't start.
Team Samurai Japan Manager Hiroki Kokubo made more changes in his starting line-up.
Only rightfielder Yuki Yanagita and designated hitter Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh returned from yesterday's game.
Both games were broadcast live in Europe by Eurosport 2.
The station will air a 1 1/2 hour recap of Game 2 on Thursday-evening, starting at 7 PM.
...Manager Steve Janssen with Tom Stuifbergen,...
...who successfully closed the game...
(© Photo courtesy of WBSC) |
In the first inning, both lead-off hitters reached base off of the lefthander starters.
Europe-starter Diegomar Markwell (Netherlands) gave up a lead-off single to Yohei Ohshima.
However, Markwell started his familiar routine of throwing to first base and his second pick-off was successful.
A flyout and strikeout then followed.
For Europe, Michael Duursma again showed he has a good eye for the ball, as he led off with a walk.
But then, he was forced out when Alessandro Vaglio (Italy) grounded into a double play.
In the second at bat, Markwell got two quick outs, but he then gave up an infield-hit to Ginji and walked Yoshihiro Maru.
But Japan was held scoreless when Kenta Imamiya popped up into rightfield.
Team Europe then struck with two runs in the bottom of the second inning off Matsuba of Orix Buffaloes.
First, Kalian Sams led off with a walk.
Then, with one out, Mario Chiarini hit the ball sharply down the third base-line into leftfield.
The ball then caroomed back from the wall in foul territory, just out of reach for leftfielder Yoshihiro Maru and that moment was enough for 3B Coach Ben Thijssen (Netherlands) to wave Sams home to score the first run.
And Chiarini ended up on second base with a double.
The Italian veteran this season will play for T&A San Marino after having played 14 years for Rimini.
Next batter Oscar Angulo then went after the first delivery of Matsuba and popped up into foul territory.
But then Spanish catcher Blake Ochoa drove the ball down the rightfield-line for an RBI-double to make it 2-0 in European favor.
Markwell returned to the mound in the third inning and again saw Japan get into scoring position.
With one out, he gave up an infield-hit (nice play by short stop Angulo) to Yohei Ohshima, then walked Tetsuto Yamada, but the first was then forced out on a grounder by Yuki Yanagita.
With runners on first and third base, the inning ended when Sho Nakata popped up to third baseman Michael Duursma, who appeared to have some difficulties of picking up the ball against the white background of the roof, but succeeded in catching the ball to end the inning.
...Yurendell de Caster...
...3-run homerun...
(© Photo: WBSC) |
In the bottom of the third inning, Team Europe again struck, this time with three runs.
With one out, Alessandro Vaglio walked and Curt Smith connected for his fourth basehit in the series.
Kalian Sams then struckout, but Yurendell de Caster followed with a towering 3-run homerun into leftfield to lift the lead to 5-0!
In the fourth inning, Leslie Nacar (Spain) took over the pitching for Team Europe and retired six batters in a row.
Team Samurai Japan also changed pitchers in the fourth inning, as Shouichi Inoh took over.
The righthander gave up an one-out single to Blake Ochoa, but then followed with two strikeouts.
He then added two more strikeouts in the fifth inning.
...Tetsuto Yamada...
...homerun...
(© Photo: WBSC) |
Nacar also took the mound again in the top of the sixth inning.
However, after having retired the first six batters he faced, he wasn't successful this time, as Tetsuto Yamada led off with a homerun.
Nacar then walked next batter Hayato Sakamoto, who had come into the game defensively in the bottom of the fourth inning as the new short stop for Team Japan.
It marked the end for Nacar, who was relieved by lefthander Luke Sommer, one of the two German players on the European roster.
Sommer, who pitched in the Dutch big league for Kinheim in the past, initially started well by striking out Sho Nakata (who had become the new leftfielder in the fourth, which was one of six defensive changes at that time).
But the lefthander then gave up a single into left-centerfield by Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh and as leftfielder Kalian Sams bobbled the ball, he ended up on second base, while Sakamoto already had advanced to third base.
Hereafter, Ginji grounded out, but that enabled Sakamoto to score the second Japanese run.
The inning ended with another grounder, but Japan had narrowed the deficit to 5-2.
In the top of the seventh inning, Japan again threatened to score off of Sommer.
Pinch-hitter Ryosuke Kikuchi led off with a double, but a flyout followed.
Next hitter Yohei Ohshima then hit the ball back to Sommer, who got Kikuchi in a rundown between second and third base.
Kikuchi was driven back to second base, but was unable to return to that base, as Ohshima had advanced to it on the play, so Kikuchi was tagged out.
With two outs, Sommer walked Tetsuto Yamada, but then third baseman Michael Duursma made a nice play on a hard grounder by Hayato Sakamoto to end the inning.
Takeda then struckout the European side in the bottom of the seventh inning, then Sommer Sommer returned for his third inning in the eighth.
Sommer gave up a lead-off single, but after a grounder accounted for the first out, he struckout the next two batters.
19-year old Yuki Matsui became the new pitcher for Japan in the bottom eighth and was greeted with a lead-off double by Alessandro Vaglio.
He advanced to third base on a wild pitch, then scored an insurance run on a sacrifice fly by Kalian Sams after Curt Smith had struckout.
Tom Stuifbergen then closed the game for Europe.
He gave up a lead-off double to Ryosuke Kikuchi, but Japan was unable to stage a comeback.
Stuifbergen followed with a strikeout, then a flyout accounted for the second out.
The righthander then closed the game in style with a strikeout to secure the victory!
And so, Team Europe left the field victorious, which was a great accomplishment and even could have won both games!
Steve Janssen and his team showed great baseball and again undercored that European baseball can really compete with the best baseball in the world!
During the press conference afterwards, Team Europe Manager Steve Janssen stated:
,,We came to win and today was a very great team effort.
I think we had very good pitching today, we threw the ball very good from the first to the last player, we played some pretty good defense and we came up with some very good timely hitting today.
It’s a great feeling to leave tomorrow with a W in the back of our pocket.
I’m very happy that we won today's game, but we could’ve won two.
Yesterday we were very close to winning that game too.
I definitely have a great feeling, but the feeling would be much better if we’d won two games.''
Today's starting and winning pitcher Diegomar Markwell agreed with Janssen.
,,I think yesterday was just a game we gave away'', the lefthander said.
,,Nobody felt comfortable about it.
Today we came and played the way we were supposed to and we came out with the win.''
Yurendell de Caster, who had a big contribution in the victory with his 3-run homerun, added:
,,I feel great.
I was focused since yesterday, trying to hit the ball hard up the middle.
Today I had the same plan.
I didn’t try to hit a home run, I just tried to put a good swing on it.''
Six players on the European roster didn't come into action in the two-game series against Japan.
Five of them are pitchers, being Mike Bolsenbroek (Netherlands), Kevin Heijstek (Netherlands), Owen Ozanich (France), Jan-Niclas Stoecklin (Germany) and Orlando Yntema (Netherlands).
The sixth player is Czech infielder Jakub Sladek.
| Team Europe - Samurai Japan 6-2 |
| R | H | E |
| Samurai Japan | 000 | 002 | 000 | - | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| Team Europe | 023 | 000 | 01X | - | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| pitchers Japan | inn. | SO | BB | H | R | ER |
| Takahiro Matsuba, L (0-1) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Shouichi Inoh | 2 | 4 | - | 1 | - | - |
| Shota Takeda | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Yuki Matsui | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | - |
| pitchers Europe | inn. | SO | BB | H | R | ER |
| Diegomar Markwell (Netherlands), W (1-0) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - |
| Leslie Nacar (Spain) | 2 (*) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Luke Sommer (Germany) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - |
| Tom Stuifbergen (Netherlands) | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | - | - |
| (*) - Nacar pitched to two batterrs in the sixth inning |
Umpires: HP-C.T. Lin (Chinese Taipei), 1B-C.W. Chiang (Chinese Taipei),
2B-C.H. Yang (Chinese Taipei), 3B-C.J. Chiang (Chinese Taipei).
Time-2:41 hr. |
|
...Game 1-starter Daichi Ohsera signs the first ball he pitched in the game...
...The ball and a Team Europe-jersey will go the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum... |
...Team Europe prepares before the game... |
 |
...Today more than 23,000 spectators attended the game... |
...The players of Team Europe thank the enthousiastic spectators in the Tokyo Dome after the game... |
...Game 2-hero Yurendell de Caster, who hit a 3-run homerun, is interviewed after the game...
(© All Photos courtesy of WBSC) |
(March 11)
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