(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Samurai Japan)
  Japan and México split series in Osaka
Nederlands
 OSAKA, Osaka Prefecture (Japan) -
The national professional teams of Japan and México played a 2-game series this weekend in the Kyocera Dome Osaka, the home of professional team Orix Buffaloes.
In the ENEOS Samurai Japan Series 2019, México recorded a surprise 4-2 win on Saturday (March 9), but Samurai Japan then recorded a 6-0 shutout on Sunday (March 10).
Both games were attended by more than 28,000 spectators.
Last year, Samurai Japan played a 2-game series against Australia in the Samurai Japan Series.
For both teams, the games are part of their preparations for the second edition of the Premier12, which takes place in November of this year.
México will be the host of one of the three Preliminary Rounds of the global event.
At Zapopan, near Guadalajara, México will play against the Netherlands, the USA and the Dominican Republic.
The tournament begins on November 2.
The Final games will be played in Japan.
Besides that, it is also a preparation for next years Olympic Games, which will be held in Tokyo (Japan).
As host, Japan of course already has qualified, but México can qualify for the Olympics in the Premier12.
In that event, the best team from the Americas will qualify.
On Saturday, Japan led 2-0 after four innings and 2-1 halfway the sixth, but México then turned the game around and won 4-2.
With México being the home team, Japan opened the score in the first inning off of starter Luis Mendoza, who has pitched in Japan for Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
Seiji Uebayashi led off with a single and moved when Haruki Nishikawa walked.
He advanced to third base on a double play-grounder, then scored on a single by Masataka Yoshida.
In the fourth, Japan doubled its lead on a single by Takuya Kai.
México left a runner behind in scoring position in the second and fourth inning.
In the first inning, Japanese starter Shota Imanaga struckout three batters.
In the bottom of the sixth, México got one run back.
With two outs, Víctor Mendoza walked and advanced on a single by Joey Menesés.
Mendoza then scored on a single by Luis 'El Pepón' Juárez.
In the seventh, México took a 3-2 lead.
With one out, José Juan Aguilar was hit by a pitch, then Román Alí Solís and Chris Roberson connected for back-to-back RBI-doubles.
...Masataka Yoshida is greeted after his grand slam...
(© Photo: Samurai Japan) |
In the eighth, Menesés led off with a double and scored on an one-out double by Luis Cruz to make it a 4-2 score.
This season, Menesés will play in Japan for Orix Buffaloes.
In this game, in what will be his home-stadium, Mesesés was 4-for-4 with three doubles.
Cruz played for four seasons in Japan for Chiba Lotte Marines.
In the top of the ninth, Japan had two baserunners, but a double play then ended the game, which lasted three hours and 25 minutes.
On Sunday, Japan rallied for five runs in the bottom of the first inning and added a run in the seventh.
In the first, Naoki Yoshikawa led off with a single.
The bases then got loaded when Shogo Nakamura and Kensuke Kondo both walked.
Next batter Masataka Yoshida then drilled the ball over the rightfield-wall for a grand slam homerun!
With one out, Yusuke Ohyama walked and scored the fifth run on a 2-out single by Tatsuhiro Tamura.
In the seventh, Yoshikawa led off with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Yoshida.
México outhit Japan 8-7, but was unable to score in this game, which took three hours and four minutes to complete.
(March 10)
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