Japan suffered a blow in a practice game with a professional club ahead of the opening of the WBC (World Baseball Classic). Regardless of the results, the content was not good. Director Hideki Kuriyama’s face hardened.
The Japanese WBC national team lost 2-7 in a practice game against Chunichi Dragons held at Vantelin Dome in Nagoya, Japan on the 3rd. The atmosphere that had been heated by the addition of Shohei Ohtani (Angels) and Lars Nutba (St. Louis) subsided as the game played.
Japan ended its winning streak in practice matches. In practice matches against the Softbank Hawks on the 25th and 26th of last month, they won 8-4 and 4-2, respectively. However, even with 12 points in 2 games, there was an element of anxiety. The Softbank pitcher’s earned run average was only 4 runs. On the 2nd, while the hitters did not come up in live betting, on the 3rd, the mound was shaken and suffered the first loss in the practice game.
Japan national team starting lineup
Tetsuto Yamada (2nd baseman) – Gensuke Kondo (right fielder) – Shugo Maki (1st baseman) – Munetaka Murakami (3rd baseman) – Kazuma Okamoto (left fielder) – Hotaka Yamakawa (designated hitter) – Genda Sosuke (shortstop) – Oshiro Takumi (catcher) – Shuto Ukyo (center fielder), starting pitcher Shota Imanaga
Starter Imanaga (DeNA) struck out the first batter and was in danger of conceding runs by allowing walks and hits. However, he struck out with a swing by throwing a ball at 152 km/h against Dayan Viciedo, and overcame the crisis without conceding a run by catching second base runner Kalliste with Orlando Kalliste as a check. He worked well with second baseman Yamada (Yakult).
The second time was much easier. He struck out all three batters. In all three strikeouts, his skillful pitching with different deciding pitches stood out. Throwing a fastball, cutter, and changeup, he induced a swing after two strikes.
I lost in the 3rd inning. After one out, Imanaga allowed a left-handed hit, then gave up second base after two outs. He got a timely left-handed hit from Kalliste, whom he met at second out and second base. Okamoto (Yomiuri), who came out to left field, had a short home throw. Imanaga finished the third inning with two outs and a strikeout on first base. 3 innings, 7 strikeouts, 1 run.
The second pitcher, Shōsei Dogo (Yomiuri), blocked the 4th and 5th innings without allowing a run, but gave up 2 runs in the 6th when the match was 1-1. The fact that consecutive long hits were allowed raised anxiety. After giving up a solo home run to Aristedis Aquino, he was hit with consecutive doubles by Shuhei Takahashi and Takuya Kinoshita. From the 4th to the 6th, he gave up 2 runs on 4 hits in 3 innings.
The third pitcher, Yuki Matsui (Rakuten), who came out in the 7th inning, was still unable to catch the pitch as if he had not adapted to the official ball. He gave up a timely hit to Hosokawa Seiya from second out and second base. After allowing consecutive walks to Vishiedo and Aquino, he was driven to full base, and Takahashi hit a heavy hit at the right time, raising the score to 1-5. In the end, coach Kuriyama came up and replaced the pitcher. 원벳원 토토
Even Ryoji Kuribayashi (Hiroshima), who took the mound with 2 out and bases loaded, was hit with 2 RBIs in a timely manner and became 1-7. Matsui allowed 4 runs in ⅔ innings, and Kuribayashi scored no runs in 1⅓ innings. In the ninth inning, Daisei (Yomiuri) finished one inning without conceding a run.
Japanese hitters only scored 4 hits and 3 walks in 23 at-bats in joint training live betting with Chunichi on the 2nd. In the practice game against Softbank last month, he scored 12 points, but there were more scenes where the opponent’s mistakes led to goals. Even in the game with Chunichi, the bat did not come alive.