Japan made a stellar start to their bid for baseball gold by
crushing the Philippines 17–2 in their opening match.
The victory took just 70 minutes to complete, being called at
the bottom of the fifth innings because Japan were 15 runs
ahead.
It was as good as over after the first innings which saw Japan
plunder eight runs from Charlie Labrador’s pitching. Labrador
suffered a nightmare, conceding 10 runs in total, eight hits and
striking batters on the body twice with errant pitches.
He was then substituted but his two replacements fared little
better with Japan scoring runs at will.
A further seven came in a bumper fourth innings with Kanya
Suzuki smashing a two-run homer over left field.
Japan pitcher Takuya Ishiguro was meanwhile enjoying a quieter
time, forcing three strikeouts in a perfect display before coach
Tazuru Kakino decided to rotate his squad.
That policy did bring some relief for the Philippines and they
finally scored with a two-run triple by Nino Tator, to make the
score 17–2.
It was brief respite though, and after a scoreless fifth innings
the match was awarded to Japan.
Speaking after the game Japan coach Kakino said: “I was very
pleased with our high concentration. All the players got a hit
which will make them more relaxed for our next game. It is a very
important match against Korea. If we can keep the score low we can
win it. Today it was just important to win.”
Philippines team manager Eladio Baradas commented: “As long as
we beat Thailand we will be okay. Japan was always going to be
difficult but we have played Thailand a lot recently and our aim
here is to beat them again.”
(dohaasiangames.org November 30, 2006)