TOKYO, Japan — On a rainy night in Taipei, Japan overcame its toughest test yet at the Premier12, narrowly escaping with a 7-6 victory over a resilient Cuban squad. The game was marked by clutch moments, defensive miscues and NPB teammate matchups and the Samurai found a way to stay unbeaten in Group B. They secured their spot in the Super Round with a perfect 4-0 record in pool play.
Ryoya Kurihara was back in the starting lineup after missing the previous game with elbow inflammation. Lotte Marines backstop Toshiya Satoh got his first start of the tournament. The Cuban order featured former NPB players Roel Santos, Yadir Drake, and Alfredo Despaigne, as well as current Nippon-Ham Fighters star Ariel Martinez.
Rakuten Eagles southpaw Takahisa Hayakawa got the start for Japan. Once an underperforming top prospect, Hayakawa broke out in 2024 after a successful winter ball spell with the Perth Heat. He elevated his game and posted a 2.54 ERA across 170.1 innings in NPB. He made quick work of Cuba on just eight pitches in the first inning, striking out two.
With two outs in the bottom of the second, DeNA BayStars outfielder Keita Sano lined a go-ahead single to center to put the Samurai in front. In the third, Japan loaded the bases with nobody out, but skipper Armando Johnson made two pitching changes that paid off as Japan only managed to push across one run on a Shota Morishita sacrifice fly.
Santos led off the fourth inning with a triple for Cuba, and Yadir Drake, who spent time with the Fighters in 2017, drove him home on a single to cut the lead in half. Hirokazu Ibata’s squad got that run right back in the bottom frame, as Toshiya Satoh’s sac fly to left brought the score to 3-1 in favor of Japan.
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In the following inning, Shugo Maki gave Japan its fourth run when his check swing was lucky enough to find a hole past the second baseman for an RBI knock. His DeNA BayStars teammate Keita Sano hit a sac fly later in the inning to extend the lead to 5-1.
But Cuba wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Santos started the sixth with a walk, and Drake came through again with an RBI double to cut the deficit to three runs. Rikuto Yokoyama came in to relieve Hayakawa but got just one out while allowing RBI hits to Erisbel Arruebarruena and Yoan Moncada, making it a 5-4 scoreline. Yokoyama’s teammate Shota Suzuki came in and stopped the bleeding, stranding the bases loaded with a big strikeout.
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Livan Moinelo, who has dealt with an illness all week, made a surprise appearance in the bottom of the sixth and struggled to find the strike zone consistently. He hit a batter and walked two, including his SoftBank Hawks teammate Ryoya Kurihara, with the bases loaded. However, he turned a huge double play on Maki to end the threat at 6-4.
Suzuki remained in the game to start the seventh but made way for Tatsuya Shimizu after putting two runners on with one out. On his first batter of the night, Shimizu induced a weakly hit ground ball back to the mound but threw the ball away to first, allowing both runners to cross the plate. He got out of the inning without further damage, but Cuba had rallied to tie the game at six.
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In the eighth inning, Cuba put the leadoff man on base but couldn’t capitalize after a failed bunt, a lineout, and a check-swing strikeout ended their chance to take the lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Kaito Kozono reached on an error, and Ryosuke Tatsumi was hit by a pitch, putting two runners aboard. Morishita then grounded into a fielder’s choice, advancing pinch-runner Ryota Isobata to third and setting up another showdown between Kurihara and Moinelo. Kurihara delivered with a shallow fly to left, allowing the speedy Isobata to tag up and score with ease. Japan was able to take the lead going into the final inning 7-6.
With closer Taisei having pitched two straight days, Rakuten Eagles reliever Shoma Fujihira entered in the ninth. He had struck out nine consecutive batters dating back to last Sunday but allowed multiple hits in this contest to Alfredo Despaigne and Ariel Martinez before drilling Arruebarruena to load the bases with one out. The rain kept pouring, making it difficult to throw strikes. Unfazed by the roadblock, he got back-to-back strikeouts on Yoan Moncada and Andy Cosme to shut the door, booking Japan’s spot in the Super Round with a 7-6 victory. Japan extends their winning streak to 23 in international games.
Japan with a record of 4-0 will play the 1-3 Dominican Republic team tomorrow in the hopes of staying perfect at the Premier12 tournament and clinching the top spot in Group B. Cuba, now 1-3, will play against 3-1 Chinese Taipei, but are now officially eliminated from Super Round contention.
WBN Japan: https://worldbaseball.com/league/japan/
