After two days of World Cup of Baseball play it doesn’t matter, that the Japanese roster consists only of amateur players. They crushed Mexico 15-3 to earn their second win of the contest.
Japan wasted no time to make a statement. They scored in each of the first four innings to build up a 14-3 lead. Their biggest inning was the second, where seven players reached home, all with two outs.
Left fielder Takashi YOSHIURA (3 RBI) had four hits and a walk in five plate appearances. He hit a towering homerun and was a triple shy of the cycle. Yasuyuki SAIGO had four RBI.
The Mexican offense had their chances at the beginning, but three runners were thrown out at the plate in the first two frames. Efren RODRIGUEZ had three hits in three at-bats. Fernando ALEJOS SANCHEZ drove in two.
Takashi SAITO started for Japan. He pitched four innings, allowing three runs (2 ER) on eight hits. Relief pitcher Shoji MATSUOKA recieved the win after a perfect sixth.
Mexico’s starter Juan DELGADILLO (L 0-1) gave up seven runs on five hits and two walks in just 1 2/3 innings. He struck out one.
JAP 371 301 0 15 16 1