A Japanese team of All-Stars fulfilled a determined national mission to win the Olympic baseball gold medal for the first time, beating the United States 2-0 behind Munetaka Murakami's third-inning home run.
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN -- A Japanese team of All-Stars fulfilled a determined national mission to win the Olympic baseball gold medal for the first time, beating the United States 2-0 Saturday night behind Munetaka Murakami's third-inning home run.
Murakami, at 21 the youngest player in Japan's starting lineup but already a two-time All-Star in four seasons with the Central League's Yakult Swallows, reached out for an 85.2 mph offspeed pitch with a 2-2 count from Nick Martinez . He drove the ball to the opposite field, over the 16-foot wall in left-center, and Martinez winced as it landed in the fourth row of the empty blue seats.
Kodai Senga, a 28-year-old right-hander on the Pacific League's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks viewed as a possible future MLB pitcher, followed with 98 mph heat in the sixth.Suguru Iwazaki, a 30-year-old lefty with the Central League's Hanshin Tigers, relieved and struck out Boston prospect Triston Casas, retired Todd Frazier on a popup and got Eric Filia to ground into a forceout.
Martinez, a 31-year-old former Texas right-hander in his fourth season pitching in Japan, allowed five hits in six innings with seven strikeouts and one walk. And while second baseman Eddy Alvarez became just the third American and sixth athlete overall to win medals at the Winter and Summer Games, he failed to gain gold and matched the silver he earned as a speedskater in 2014.
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