BWC Zagreb: Great Britain – Japan 7-9
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Japan won the opener in Pool D at the ballpark in Zagreb, Croatia against Great Britain. The British offense woke up in the ninth, scoring five runs in the ninth to cut the deficit to 7-9 with two outs. But Richard Klijn struck out with the bases loaded to end the game.
Yoshinobu Kotegawa (homerun), Kenichi Yokoyama and Shoh Aranami combined for six RBI for the two-time World Baseball Classic champion. Samuel Wiley homered for Great Britain. He and Chris Falls drove in five of the seven runs.
Rikiya Chikugawa (W 1-0) picked up the win in relief of the good starter Hiroyuki Kamegawa, who went three scoreless innings. Sam Whitehead (L 0-1) gave up five hits, three runs and a bb in three innings.