There is no bunt.
The Korean national baseball team won 2-0 in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games Super Round match against Japan held at Shaoxing Baseball Stadium in Zhejiang Province, China on the 5th (Korean time) with perfect pitches from starters Park Se-woong, Choi Ji-min, and Park Young-hyun. Japan, which dispatched a member of society (unemployed baseball), lost 0-1 to China in the first round and suffered the humiliation of losing to Korea, its first opponent in the super round.
Japan was not without opportunities. In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff hitter Hiroki Nakagawa walked and succeeded in stealing second base. With no outs on second base, Japan chose a strong ball rather than a bunt. Naoya Mochizuki struck out. Shoji Kitamura hit a single to left and had a chance to put runners on first and third base with one out, but Tatsuhiko Sato and Masashi Maruyama retired with a strikeout.메이저사이트
Since it was an early opportunity, you could have thought that they pushed hard. In the fourth inning, leadoff third batter Shoji Kitamura reached base with a single to the center fielder. Tatsuhiko Sato and Maruyama both struck out, and Sasakawa also hit an infield ground ball. Because it was connected to the center batting line, a strong ball was much more natural than a bunt.
However, in the 0-0 5th inning, there was no bunt even though the bottom batting lineup got on base. Leadoff hitter No. 7 Seafu Suzuki walked and stepped on first base. The 8th batter, Jin Nakamura, made a strong pitch and hit a hit toward the second baseman, but it was blocked by Kim Hye-seong’s throw. Ryo Kinami retired with a straight hit to shortstop, and Nakagawa struck out.
Japan had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the 9th inning. Due to shortstop Kim Joo-won’s throwing error, leadoff hitter Kitamura stepped on first base, and Sato hit a hit to right, giving the team a chance to tie the game on first and second base with no outs. As expected, he chose a strong pitch, and Maruyama hit a ground ball to second base, and Sasagawa hit a double play to second base, resulting in the humiliation of a loss.
At least in the first and fifth innings, the probability of scoring could have been increased by one point through bunts. Korea scored in the 6th and 8th innings on this day after sending runners into scoring range with a bunt. In the first round match against China, Japan chose to play strong even when they had a chance to come back on first and second base with no outs due to a walk and a hit in the bottom of the 9th inning when they were down 0-1. However, the 6th batter struck out and the 7th batter hit a double play that knocked him to his knees.
Bunt was a word used to describe Japanese baseball in the past. However, this member of the social team was completely different. It seems to follow director Akio Ishii’s theory. He gave up on small ball and pursued the American style of big ball, which relies on the players’ abilities. The order was for the players to focus and solve the problem themselves without fear. The result was a humiliating second defeat.
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