Japan wins inaugural Asia Professional Baseball Championship

In a festive atmosphere in the Tokyo Dome, Japan took on Korea to win the inaugural Asia Professional Baseball Championship. Only in the first four innings, Korea was able to keep pace with team Samurai Japan but from the fifth inning Japan flexed its muscles and walked away to a 7-0 victory and kept its unbeaten status in this tournament. 

Unlike the opening game of this championship, Korea was no match for Japan. In that first game, Japan needed ten innings to beat the Koreans. But until the fifth inning of today’s game, it wasn’t all that convincing. Of course, the Japanese defense was solid but the offense failed to come through in critical situations. Japanese starter Kazuto Taguchi cruised through seven innings. He only got into trouble in the fourth inning as he allowed runners on the corners but eventually managed to get out of the inning without any damage.

In the first three innings Korea kept Japan from scoring but in the fouth Korean starter Park started to struggle and eventually gave up the opening run. Japan had runners in scoring position several times but did not push through. But eventually, in the fifth inning, the Japanese offense caught fire. With bases loaded and one out, Shuta Tonosaki of the Seibu Lions drove in Takeshi Matsumoto on a sac fly followed by a double hit by Ryoma Nishikawa that drove in two more runs.

In the sixth, Japan pushed through once more. With runners in scoring position, Hokata Yamakawa doubled to drive in two additional runs for Japan. A solo home run hit by Ryoma Nishikawa in the seventh inning drove up the score to 7-0.

The way the Japanese players celebrated the victory, it seemed this game was a burdensome duty.

Korea used seven different pitchers in this game, Japan only three. Of course, Taguchi earned the win. In seven innings he gave up three hits and a walk and struck out six. He needed 108 pitches for this feat. Best hitter for Samurai Japan was Ryoma Nishikawa, who went 3 for 4 with three RBI,  a double and a home run.