(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by WBSC)
    Samurai Japan shuts out Europe in Global Games-opener
Nederlands
 OSAKA (Japan) -
Samurai Japan, the national professional team of Japan, shutout Team Europe 5-0 on Wednesday-evening (March 6) in the first game of the Global Baseball Games.
The second game will be played on Thursday.
Both games of the Global Baseball Games are played in the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, the home Oryx Buffaloes, which plays in Nippon Professiobal Baseball (NPB).
In Japan, the series is called Samurai Japan Series.
On Monday, Team Europe played an exhibition game against Hayate 223, which will be a new professional team in the Japanese Minor League this season.
Team Europe trailed 4-0 halfway the eighth inning.
Hayate scored twice in the second inning off of Luis Lugo, who had relieved starter Lars Huijer.
Hayate added two runs in top of the eighth off of Franklin Van Gurp.
In the bottom of the eighth, Marek Chlup hit a 3-run homerun for Europe, which also scored Alberto Mineo (double) and Sharlon Schoop (walk).
In the ninth, Delano Selassa was at first base when Noah Williamson doubled.
Moments later, Selassa scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by Gabriel Lino.
Williamson stranded at second base and the game ended with a 4-4 score.
Team Europe-Manager Marco Mazzieri used nine pitchers and also used all his position-players.
...Managers Marco Mazzieri (Europe) and Hirokazu Ibata...
...(Samurai Japan) with starting pitchers Tom de Blok (left)...
...and Kaima Tara (right) during a press-conference on...
...Tuesday, one day before Game 1 of the Global Series...
(© Photo: WBSC via X) |
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) reported that almost 28,000 spectators attended the first game of the Series on Wednesday.
The European All Star Team was limited to only six basehits by six pitchers.
Kaima Tara started for Japan and threw two innings.
The righthander, who plays for Seibu Lions, was the NPB Rookie of the Year in 2020.
He played in three NPB All Star Games and was a member of the Japanese team that won the Gold Medal in the 2020 Olympic Games, which were held in 2021 after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan recorded eleven basehits, including two by Kensuke Kondoh and Kontaro Kurebayashi.
Japan opened the score in the bottom of the first inning off of European starting pitcher Tom de Blok.
After Yasutaka Shiomi led off with a single, Kensuke Kondoh doubled with one out.
They went on to score on respectively a single by Munetaka Murakami and a 2-out single by Kotaro Kurebayashi.
Japan doubled its lead in the fifth inning off of Dalton Von Schamann, who had replaced Martin Schneider in the third inning.
Schneider had taken over the pitching from De Blok in the second inning.
But in the third, Schneider had to leave the mound due to an injury and was relieved by Von Schamann.
In the fifth, he gave up a 2-out double to Kensuke Kondoh.
Japan added its fifth run in the sixth inning off of Daniel Alvarez.
With two outs, he got two baserunners and was relieved by Franklin Van Gurp, who then gave up a runscoring single to pinch-hitter Misho Nishikawa.
Luis Lugo was the sixth and final pitcher for Europe and threw the final 2/3 inning in the bottom of the eighth.
The six European basehits were recorded by Alex Liddi (1-for-3), Wander Encarnación (1-for-1), Martin Cervenka (1-for-3), Juremi Profar (1-for-2) and Daniel Jimenez (2-for-3).
The last time that Samurai Japan played a series against Europe was in March 2015.
Back then, the series was called Global Baseball Match and was played in the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo.
Japan won the first game 4-3, then Europe won the next day with a 6-2 score.
(March 6)
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