The Japanese national team beat China 8-1 in the first round 토토사이트 of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on the 9th. Although they won a complete victory over China, a powerhouse under Hansu, it was frustrating until the middle of the game. Chinese pitchers continued to give up walks and chances continued, but they could not lead to a large number of runs. The center batting line did not solve the problem coolly.
Starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani (29, LA Angels) performed a “one-man show” leading the attack. He tied the opponent’s lineup with 1 hit and no run in 4 innings, and made a big success with 2 hits and 2 RBIs. It was a composition in which No. 1 Lars Nutba (26, St. Louis) and No. 2 Gensuke Kondo (31, Softbank), who have a high on-base rate, create opportunities, and No. 3 Ohtani solves them.
The sluggishness of fourth hitter Munetaka Murakami (23, Yakult) stands out. In six practice games held prior to the opening of the WBC, he only scored 3 hits in 21 at-bats, but the feeling of a dropped hit did not come up.
3 at-bats, no hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts in the match against China. Batter 4 hit a Chinese pitcher who was throwing a fastball and changeup at 130km per hour, and struck out two misses. He struggled with speed, a type of pitcher he had never faced before.
At the bottom of the 4th inning, after one out, he left Ohtani on second base and entered the plate and retreated with a ground ball to second base. It was right after Ohtani hit a timely double with two RBIs.
Former Chiba Lotte Marines manager Storm Ito said, “I’m worried about Murakami.” In a column posted on Sports Nippon, a sports magazine, he explained the cause of the sluggish performance, saying, “Murakami is conscious of Otani, who has a large presence, and is unable to hit his own.”