WBSC Premier12 Results: Drake Baldwin strikes out, USA opens super round with loss

Japan torched the United States for a blowout win, with Braves prospect Drake Baldwin having one pitch hit appearance where he struck out.

Drake Baldwin didn’t get a start for the United States in their loss to Japan, though he did get an appearance late in the game as a pinch hitter. With a runner on and two outs Baldwin came in to face Japan’s Koki Kitayama, and it didn’t go well for the young catcher. Kitayama put a slider on Baldwin’s back foot which he chased for a swinging strike, then got up 0-2 by bending one in on the inside corner. He finished off Baldwin by elevating above the zone, and Baldwin was blown away for a quick strikeout. Slider on the inner third were an issue that became more prevalent towards the end of the season for Baldwin, opening up a hole that he and the Braves have been looking to rectify. Venezuela took a win in the opening game of the Super Round, though our old friend Ehire Adrianza wasn’t much help to them. Adrianza struck out in all three plate appearances, with Venezuela and Chinese Taipei often trading scoreless innings in a close game.

SCOREBOARD

Player of the Day
Kaito Kozono, Japan
3-5, 2 HR, 3B, 7 RBI

Kozono was the driving force of a late-inning offensive explosion for Japan, with three multi-run extra base hits including two home runs. In a 1-1 game in the fifth inning Kozono strolled to the plate with two runners on and two outs, giving him the potential to come through with a big hit for Japan. Kozono delivered, lacing a two-run triple to give Japan lead they would not relinquish. Kozono kept adding to his accolades with a three-run home run in the seventh inning before finishing his dismantling of the United States with a two-run home run in the eighth inning. Kozono has 18 total bases during the tournament, third most across all rounds.

Pitcher of the Day:
Hiroto Takahashi, Japan
4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K

Takahashi faced off in a duel against the USA’s Rich Hill, matching up across four scoreless innings to keep his Japanese side level. Takahashi’s power overwhelmed the United States hitters as he struck out eight batters, all swinging strikeouts, while not walking a single batter. Takahashi has been one of the most impressive performers this tournament, seeming to get stronger each game he pitches.

CHINESE TAIPEI 0 — 2 VENEZUELA

box score | replay

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Carlos Perez, VEN: 1-3, HR, 2 RBI
Nivaldo Rodriguez, VEN: 4 IP, 0 R, 5 K
Chieh-Hsien Chen, TPE: 3-3

Pitching headlined a terrific opening to the Super Round in Tokyo, with the game coming down ultimately to just one big swing from Venezuela. Tzu-Peng Huang took the mound for Taiwan, and after his group play performance where he threw 7 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings across two outings it was fair to assume we would be in for a treat. He was matched up with Nivaldo Rodriguez, who himself had solid numbers out of Venezuela’s bullpen but would be making his first start in the Premier12.

Rodriguez was at his absolute best in this game, consistently working in the zone early in counts and keeping his fastball off of the barrels of Taiwan’s hitters. Rodriguez racked up five strikeouts, primarily utilizing his splitter late in counts against hitters, and his ability to locate both of his secondary pitches in this game made him a tough matchup. That splitter was simply a dominating force that Taiwan struggled to do anything with throughout Rodriguez’s start. The only player to have much success was Chieh-Hsien Chen, who overall was the life of the lineup and was able to scratch out three hits in the game. He opened with a single with two outs in the first inning, and though this wouldn’t turn into anything, his and Taiwan’s second look through at Rodriguez found a tinge of success. Chen got tied up by a couple of splitters from Rodriguez, but when Rodriguez couldn’t finish him off he floated a slider that hung up in the zone, and Chen slapped it down the left field line for his second hit. Chen looked to make an even bigger mark, rounding hard and attempting to stretch the hit into a double, but he underestimated Herlis Rodriguez in left field. Rodriguez scooped the ball up in foul territory, turned, and unleashed a bullet to second base right on the money to get Chen out by a few steps. Song-En Tseng followed by raking one down the right field line for a two-out double, and the trouble the second time through was starting to mount a bit for Rodriguez. Chieh-Kai Pan rolled a ball into a tough spot at first base, and at first glance appeared to beat David Rodriguez to the bag, but upon review it was clear he made a great effort and tag to get Pan for the final out of the inning. Not willing to take chances with the rest of the lineup, this was the final inning for Rodriguez.

While Rodriguez had his success Huang was continuing his momentum from group play with zero trouble early. Alexi Amarista led off the game with a base hit, but the Venezuelan lineup failed to advance him further and Huang retired nine straight batters headed into the bottom of the fourth inning. To this point in the tournament Huang had been incredible, with 10 ²⁄₃ innings of scoreless ball total, but like Rodriguez struggled the second time through the lineup. Hernan Perez ripped one into left field for a single to lead off the inning, and though he would be picked off after misjudging Huang’s delivery, it was a sign of things to come for Huang and the Venezuela offense. Ramon Flores followed with contact, a weak roller up the middle, but it was perfectly between the second baseman and shortstop, and Venezuela once again had a runner on base bringing up Carlos Perez and the middle of the Venezuelan lineup. Perez needed just one pitch, as he was sitting on a hanging slider from Huang. Perez lifted a towering blast into left field, and though it seemed to hang in the air for ages it carried just far enough, clearing the left-center field wall for a two-run, go-ahead home run.

Venezuela had little other offense success the remainder of the game. They scattered a couple of hits, but Taiwan stayed consistent. As a team they don’t allow many walks and rarely make mistakes, limiting big innings from their opponents and that was the case in this game. It would all come down to how well Venezuela could shut them down post Rodriguez, and it wasn’t quite so easy once Taiwan got a shot at the Venezuelan bullpen. Ricardo Rodriguez allowed a one out walk and a hit, quickly getting shuttled out of the game in favor of Liarvis Brito. Brito didn’t have much more luck, immediately allowing a base hit to load the bases, but Breto notched a huge strikeout for the second out, and though it would take three pitchers Venezuela would escape once Pedro Garcia forced a fly out to end the inning. Chen collected his third hit to lead off the sixth inning, but Jose Alvarez finally gave Venezuela some consistency. He recorded a strikeout and then a double play to erase Chen’s hit, then got two strikeouts in the seventh inning before Venezuela brought in Anthony Vizcaya. Vizcaya got the out he needed, and that left Taiwan contending with Venezuela’s shut down arm Oddanier Mosqueda. Mosqueda came into this game having struck out 10 batters in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings during group play, and he quickly struck out two batters in the eighth inning to work around a hit batter. Mosqueda made it easy with two quick outs in the ninth inning, and Enderson Franco was tasked with closing the final out. Franco deleted Kun-Yu Chiang with a strikeout, ending a well-fought opening win for Venezuela.

UNITED STATES 1 — 9 JAPAN

box score | replay

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Kaito Kozono, JPN: 3-5, 2 HR, 7 RBI
Hiroto Takahashi, JPN: 4 IP, 0 R, 8 K
Rich Hill, USA: 4 IP, 0 R, 5 K

Japan and the United States sent their best starters to the mound this game, and it was a battle early on. The ageless Rich Hill carried over his opening round dominance to this first Super Round game, giving the United States a much-needed early boost. Across 6 ¹⁄₃ innings in the opening round Hill didn’t allow an earned run, a feat he not only mirrored but improved upon while carving through Japan’s lineup. The first batter of the game reached via error, but an unfazed Hill worked around this and a one-out hit to keep Japan off of the board. That single from Ryosuke Tatsumi was the only life Japan would generate against Hill, as Hill retired the final 11 batters he faced as he went four scoreless innings.

Opposing Hill was the sensational Hiroto Takahashi, and the United States was simply no match for him. Takahashi dazzled, striking out eight USA hitters across four scoreless innings, and throughout the United States seemed like they were more often than not just fighting for their lives. Takahashi struck out the side in the first inning, all swinging strikeouts, and the lone sniff of significant trouble came in the second inning. Carson Williams battled to stay alive against Takahashi, then got a slider up in the middle of the zone that he was able to make solid contact against. Williams ripped one into the left field corner for a one-out double, but Takahashi responded by striking out the next two hitters to close a scoreless inning. All eight strikeouts Takahashi recorded were swinging strikeouts, and in eight innings at Premier12 he now has 16 strikeouts.

Both sides were finally relieved to see the starters depart in the fifth inning, and this is where the action really got started. Chihiro Sumida’s first matchup came against Athletics prospect Colby Thomas, and Thomas was ready for the challenge. Thomas erased a Sumida changeup from existence, hitting one of the longest home runs of the entire tournament to give the United States a 1-0 lead. This lift certainly injected energy into the USA dugout, but the lack of bullpen depth would ultimately be the United States’s undoing. No matter who the US ran out the Japanese lineup was all over them, breaking the game open immediately in the third inning. Two one-out hits were followed by a double from Shogo Sakakura, tying the game and chasing Darell Thompson from the game. Austin Vernon got a grounder over to first base that Luke Ritter made a terrific play on, sliding to nab it and then throwing a dart home to catch the runner for the second out, but the United States couldn’t escape. Kaito Kozono, whose name is about to become very familiar to this game, laced a two-out triple that scored two runs and put Japan on top.

Matt Shaw would lead off the next inning by putting a charge into a ball to right field, but it fell right at the wall for a fly out and the United States did little to generate buzz in the immediate innings. For the time being USA would keep it close following a strong inning from Spencer Patton, but it eventually spiraled. Kozono crushed the first of his home runs in the seventh inning, a three-run shot, and leading 6-1 with their bullpen it was all but clinched for Japan. Kozono would cap the scoring off with another home run in the eighth inning, this a two-run blast, and Japan rolled to a 9-1 win as the United States was dominated by their bullpen.

Schedule for November 22nd

Chinese Taipei (0-1) vs United States (0-1) — 12:00 PM Local/10:00 PM EST Nov 21

Venue: Tokyo Dome – Tokyo, Japan

How to Watch: DAZN

Venezuela (1-0) vs Japan (1-0) — 7:00 PM Local/9:00 PM EST

Venue: Tokyo Dome – Tokyo, Japan

How to Watch: DAZN