Team USA Falls to Japan, 11-1

OHMIYA, Japan (www.USABaseball.com) -- The 2004 USA Baseball National Team again dug deep hole giving up four runs in the first inning and couldn’t rebound in a 11-1 loss to Japan Tuesday night at Ohmiya Park Stadium in the fourth game of the 33rd Annual USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Series.

After sweeping Canada in a six-game series to start the summer season, Team USA lost its fourth straight game to Japan to fall to 6-4. The series trend has seen the home team win every series since 1979, including a string of 11 straight for Japan on its home soil. The Red, White and Blue continue to lead the all-time series 107-84 in games and 20-13 in the series. The two teams will conclude the series Thursday (July 8) at 1 p.m. (12 a.m. EST) at Jingu Stadium.

Team USA starting pitcher Ian Kennedy (Fr., Southern California, Huntington Beach, Calif.) took the loss to fall to 0-1 after giving up five runs and six walks 4.1 innings. Relievers Mark Romanczuk (So., Stanford, Newark, Del.), Mike Pelfrey (So., Wichita State, Wichita, Kan.), Daniel Bard (So., North Carolina, Charlotte, N.C.) and Stephen Kahn (So., Loyola Marymount, Anaheim, Calif.) combined to give up six runs over the final five innings.

Japan relief pitcher Kentarou Tanaka picked up the win giving up two hits in two innings of work. Starter Kazuhisa Makita struck out four and gave up one run in four innings.

Team USA was again its own worst enemy, squandering several scoring opportunities by grounding into three double plays and leaving six men on base. The Americans also had season highs with three errors and eight walks by the pitching staff. The loss is the worst by Team USA in the series since a 9-1 defeat in 1999 (June 24 in Mito) and the most runs given up since falling 14-11 and 11-4 in 1997. It is the worst margin of defeat (10 runs) for the Americans in the 33-year history of the series.

The Americans were only out-hit 9-8, but did not have a player with more than one hit. First baseman Alex Gordon (So., Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb.) went 1-for-2 with Team USA’s only extra base hit.

Japan got off to an early lead by scoring four runs in the opening inning for the second straight game. Kennedy struck out the side, but struggled with his control walking five to force home three runs.

Team USA got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning on a one-out single up the middle by right fielder Travis Buck (So., Arizona State, Richland, Wash.). Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (So., Virginia, Virginia Beach, Va.) started the rally with a single to right field and scored on Buck’s single. Designated hitter Jeff Clement (So., Southern California, Marshalltown, Iowa) grounded into an inning-ending double play with runners on first and third to keep the score at 4-1.

The Americans had another scoring opportunity in the fifth loading the bases on two singles and a hit-by-pitch, but second baseman Jed Lowrie (So., Stanford, Salem, Ore.) struck out on a questionable called third strike and Zimmerman flied out to the warning track in the right field gap to end the inning.

Japan added two more runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to extend the lead to 7-1. Left fielder Shoitsu Ohmatsu doubled in a run and right fielder Junichi Utsuno singled up the middle to stake the Japanese to a 6-1 lead in the fifth. Japan added an unearned run in the sixth.

Japan also scored two runs each in the eighth and ninth innings to bring the game to the final score of 11-1.

Game Notes: Team USA took batting practice at a local industry field 20 minutes from Ohmiya Stadium" USA will be looking to avoid a sweep in the series for the second time in the last three trips to Japan" Team USA was also swept in 1999" USA hit into three more double plays, bringing the total in the four games to nine" Travis Buck has recorded at least one hit in eight of his nine games played" Team USA committed a season-high three errors and the pitching staff walked a season-high eight" all four relief pitchers for Team USA did not retire the first batter they faced" Team USA has now lost 11 of the last 14 games played in Japan in the series.

Box score (NCAA) 2004 USA Baseball National Team Japan vs USA National Team Jul 06, 2004 at Ohmiya, Japan (Ohmiya Park Stadium)

Japan 11 (4-0)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Shunichi Nemoto ss....... 3 1 0 1 2 2 1 4 4 Hisanori Nishitani 2b.... 3 1 1 0 1 2 3 3 1 Shoji Ohiro dh........... 4 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 Shoitsu Ohmatsu lf....... 5 2 2 2 0 1 0 0 3 Tatsuya Meguro 1b........ 5 2 2 1 0 1 6 1 0 Junichi Utsuno rf........ 4 1 2 1 1 1 3 0 0 Yoshiyuki Kuwahara cf.... 2 2 1 1 2 0 3 0 0 Kotaro Yokota 3b......... 4 1 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 Suguru Ino c............. 4 0 0 0 0 4 10 0 0 Kazuhisa Makita p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Kentarou Tanaka p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kenichi Nakata p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Yasunori Suzuki p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Satoshi Fukuda p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 34 11 9 9 8 12 27 10 8

USA National Team 1 (6-4)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Trevor Crowe cf/lf....... 4 0 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 Jed Lowrie 2b............ 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 0 Troy Tulowitzki ph/ss... 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 Ryan Zimmerman 3b........ 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 Alex Gordon 1b........... 2 0 1 0 0 1 7 0 0 John Mayberry Jr. ph/1b. 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 Travis Buck rf........... 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 Jeff Clement dh.......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 Taylor Teagarden c....... 2 0 0 0 0 1 9 1 2 Drew Stubbs cf.......... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brett Hayes lf/c......... 3 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 Chris Valaika ss/2b...... 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 0 Ian Kennedy p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Mark Romanczuk p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mike Pelfrey p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Daniel Bard p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Stephen Kahn p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 32 1 8 1 4 9 27 11 10

Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Japan............... 400 021 022 - 11 9 0 USA National Team... 000 100 000 - 1 8 3 -------------------------------------------

E - Lowrie(2); Zimmerman(1); Buck(1). DP - Japan 3; Team USA 1. LOB - Japan 8; Team USA 10. 2B - Ohmatsu 2(2); Yokota(1); Gordon(2). HBP - Nishitani; Kuwahara; Gordon; Teagarden. SH - Ino(3). SF - Nemoto(1). CS - Utsuno(1).

Japan IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Kazuhisa Makita..... 4.0 4 1 1 0 4 15 17 57 Kentarou Tanaka..... 2.0 2 0 0 1 2 7 8 32 Kenichi Nakata...... 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3 16 Yasunori Suzuki..... 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 4 5 16 Satoshi Fukuda...... 1.0 1 0 0 2 1 3 5 24

USA National Team IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Ian Kennedy......... 4.1 3 5 5 6 5 14 21 88 Mark Romanczuk...... 0.2 2 1 1 0 0 3 3 17 Mike Pelfrey........ 2.0 1 1 0 0 4 7 8 42 Daniel Bard......... 1.0 1 2 1 2 1 5 8 32 Stephen Kahn........ 1.0 2 2 2 0 2 5 6 29

Win - Tanaka (1-0). Loss - Kennedy (0-1). Save - None. WP - Bard(3); Kahn(2). HBP - by Makita (Gordon); by Makita (Teagarden); by Bard (Nishitani); by Kahn (Kuwahara). PB - Ino(1); Teagarden 2(2). Inherited runners/scored: Tanaka 2/0; Romanczuk 1/1. Pitches/strikes: Makita 57/40; Tanaka 32/22; Nakata 16/9; Suzuki 16/10; Fukuda 24/10; Kennedy 88/45; Romanczuk 17/11; Pelfrey 42/29; Bard 32/18; Kahn 29/18. Umpires - Start: 6:05 PM Time: 3:15 Attendance: 2042 Game notes: ID-261927 Makita faced 2 batters in the 5th. Game: 04USA10