TOKYO – It was a game with nothing but pride (and a 26-game winning streak) at stake, but Samurai Japan and Chinese Taipei put on a show at Tokyo Dome in front of a sold out crowd.
With Team USA’s win over Venezuela earlier in the day, Japan’s spot in the 2024 WBSC Premier12 championship game was already clinched. Fans effectively got a preview of tomorrow’s championship, though Samurai Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata rolled out major lineup changes and Chinese Taipei also changed its starting pitcher from ace Yu-Min Lin to Po-Ching Chen. The team was fined over $3,000 for the late swap, electing to save their ace for tomorrow.
“We want to go into tomorrow’s game in the best shape possible. That’s why we decided to do this,” said manager Hao-Jiu Tseng after the game.
Rakuten Eagles southpaw Takahisa Hayakawa got the start for the Samurai. The rising NPB star threw five perfect innings at the U-24 Professional Asia Baseball Championship last year and struck out seven over 5 ⅓ frames against Cuba last week.
His Eagles teammate Itsuki Murabayashi, who has nine homers in 444 career NPB games, led off the game with a long ball to left.
“I was a bit surprised when they announced the starting pitcher had changed,” Murabayashi said after the game. “But the manager gave me words of advice so I was able to enter the batter’s box prepared.”
Japan added three more in the inning on a two-run double by Shota Morishita and a Kotaro Kurebayashi sacrifice fly to get out to an early 4-0 advantage.
🇯🇵💥 Itsuki Murabayashi DINGER! #Premier12 || @Premier12 pic.twitter.com/8pT4XWYZYs
— WBSC ⚾🥎 (@WBSC) November 23, 2024
Chinese Taipei got one back in the top of the third on a Li Lin walk and Song-En Tseng RBI double. Hayakawa crumbled in the fifth inning with a base hit sandwiched between four walks, forcing his exit with the bases loaded and the lead cut to 4-3. Japan was hoping for some length from him, but Ibata’s hand was forced as the 26-year-old walked seven over four-plus innings on 100 pitches.
😤💪 Chinese Taipei keep fighting! #Premier12 || @Premier12 pic.twitter.com/eW4SaoZVeH
— WBSC ⚾🥎 (@WBSC) November 23, 2024
Chunichi Dragons reliever Tatsuya Shimizu was tasked with being the fireman and executed the job flawlessly, inducing a rare 1-2-3 double play before recording a big strikeout on Kun-Yu Chiang to escape the jam.
🇯🇵 Elite defense by Samurai Japan#Premier12 || @Premier12 pic.twitter.com/v2Ps1dtcFK
— WBSC ⚾🥎 (@WBSC) November 23, 2024
Japan got the runs right back in the bottom half of the fifth, starting with a wild pitch with the bases loaded that allowed Shugo Maki to scoot home. Then Kotaro Kiyomiya hit two-run triple to center field, increasing the advantage to four again and marking the fifth straight game that Japan has scored at least seven runs.
But the Taiwanese quickly answered with two runs off when Chih-Cheng Chiu doubled down the right field line off Koki Kitayama in the top of the sixth, cutting the lead to 7-5.
🥵 That pitch
🇯🇵 Koki Kitayama#Premier12 || @Premier12 pic.twitter.com/zjvxX7DipZ— WBSC ⚾🥎 (@WBSC) November 23, 2024
Japan once again replied with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, courtesy of a Ryosuke Tatsumi double. Kitayama settled in and pitched three innings in relief, striking out six. Rikuto Yokoyama allowed a moonshot to An-Ko Lin to leadoff the ninth, making it 9-6, but finished the game on six pitches to get the Samurai its eighth win of the tournament.
🇯🇵🔝 Japan keeps their Premier12 unbeaten run! #Premier12 || @Premier12 pic.twitter.com/NDz6lYJiIh
— WBSC ⚾🥎 (@WBSC) November 23, 2024
The sides will meet again tomorrow night with much more on the line: a Gold Medal. “We’re going to make adjustments and look ahead to tomorrow’s game,” Tseng said. “We’re looking forward to it.”
The two sides will meet again tomorrow night with much more on the line: the Premier12 Title. It’s only the second time Chinese Taipei’s senior team has reached the final of a major international tournament, the other being the 1992 Olympics. Samurai Japan is looking to preserve a 27-game winning streak and defend its 2019 Premier12 title.
Japan has scored at least nine runs in four consecutive games, is looking to preserve a 27-game winning streak and defend its 2019 Premier12 title when the two teams meet again at 7 p.m. JST, which is 5 a.m. EST in the United States.
“Whether they’re in the starting lineup or not, I think our entire lineup is in good form,” Ibata said. “There’s only one day left so we need to show our best play tomorrow.”
Photo: Itsuki Murabayashi of Japan celebrates a single against Chinese Taipei at the Tokyo Dome during the 2024 WBSC Premier12. (Photo courtesy WBSC)
