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Japan Tops Cuba for Classic Title: 4-Run 9th Seals Win in Inaugural Event

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 March 2006, 06:00 CST

By Dan Connolly, The Baltimore Sun

Mar. 21--SAN DIEGO--Despite the pre-game fanfare, fireworks and streamers, despite the frenzied hype and ubiquitous advertising campaign, the final of the inaugural World Baseball Classic was, in essence, only an exhibition game.

Then Cuba's starter threw the first pitch to the Japanese batter. With it came the intensity of the seventh game of the World Series.

Want proof? Cuban starter Ormani Romero, a 38-year-old national team veteran, retired the first batter he faced and then allowed two infield singles and a walk. And was pulled from the game - after 23 pitches.

Now, that's taking a game seriously.

The quick hook didn't work. Japan scored four runs in the first and four in the ninth, taking a 10-6 victory to become the tournament's champion before a flag-waving, horn-blowing crowd of 42,696 at Petco Park.

It wasn't an easy win for Japan, though. It wasn't a quiet one either, at least not after Cuba left fielder Frederich Cepeda hit a two-run homer in the eighth to shrink Japan's lead to 6-5.

Cuban fans went wild in the stands and the players rushed out of the dugout - some jumped in place - and waited to high-five Cepeda. When they returned to the dugout, the Cubans threw water to the dirt in front of them, a superstition that is supposed to bring a rain of runs.

Instead, the two remaining major leaguers of the 170-plus that participated in the three-week, 16-team Classic sealed the win for the Japanese.

Texas Rangers reliever Akinori Otsuka entered in the eighth and picked up two straight outs to halt Cuba's comeback. And Japan scored four key runs in the top of the ninth, sparked by an RBI single from Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.

That was the only true MLB flavor in the championship, which highlighted Cuba's and Japan's attention to defensive fundamentals and offensive little ball.

The first inning was a microcosm of the game and the tournament.

With one out and runners on first and second, Japan's cleanup hitter, Nobuhiko Matsunaka, tried to give himself up for the betterment of the team. In a move uncharacteristic of MLB sluggers, Matsunaka hit an opposite-field grounder to the left side while the runners were moving.

The slick hitting paid off when Cuba shortstop Eduardo Paret, who was running toward second, couldn't change his direction quickly enough. Although he snagged the ball, he couldn't make a proper throw - allowing Japan to load the bases.

That's when Romero, who had allowed just one earned run in 8 1/3 previous innings in the Classic, was lifted for relief pitcher Vicyhoandry Odelin. Romero slammed his arms to his side in disgust - a rare show of emotion from a Cuban player - and left the mound dejectedly.

Odelin hit the first batter he faced to force in one Japanese run, and later walked in another. Then third baseman Toshiaki Imae hit a slider into center field for a two-run single, giving Japan a 4-0 lead.

"I knew it would be a whole different scenario if we score more than two runs [in the inning]," Imae said.

During pre-game batting practice, Imae said his Japan teammate and old high school buddy, infielder Shinya Miyamoto, told him that "something good will happen if I concentrate to hit toward center field."

"Something good really happened and I feel relieved," Imae said.

Cuba countered with its third pitcher of the first inning, Norberto Gonzalez, who induced a rally-killing groundout.

But, setting the tone for the night, Paret led off the bottom of the first with a bases-empty homer to left against Japan starter Daisuke Matsuzaka - proving Cuba wouldn't go away quietly.

It was the only run Cuba scored against Matsuzaka, who allowed four hits in four innings for his third World Baseball Classic win.

"I was going to feel a lot of pressure as this [experience] is something you would not be able to purchase," said Matsuzaka, who gave up just two runs in three games and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

"But I did not feel much of it once I got up on the mound."

Japan added two runs in the fifth, but Cuba answered with two in the sixth. Cuba made a final effort in the ninth, scoring one run. But Otsuka, the big leaguer, struck out the final two batters for the save.

Japan's players rushed the field, formed a circle and lifted manager Sadaharu Oh above their heads and threw him in the air.

"We are the Champions" played and confetti streamed in the air.

Not a bad scene for an exhibition.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Baltimore Sun

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Source: The Baltimore Sun, Maryland

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