Konami Cup Day One

Yes, I had just grabbed my newspaper to report on this, then saw your post.

The first day of the Konami Cup Asia Series saw the China Stars (mainland China) host the Sinon Bulls (Taiwan) for the first game, then the Chiba Lotte Marines (Japan) host the Samsun Lions (Korea) for the second game. All of these games are being played at Tokyo Dome.

Lenin Picota started the first game at 11:00 in the morning the Sinon Bulls and threw 7 innings of shutout ball against the China Stars for the win. Kuo Yuang-Chih and Jorge Cortes held the Stars scoreless working one inning each (Kuo allowing one hit). Chang Chien-Ming hit a three run home run in the Bulls' half of the fifth as Taiwan scored four in the inning to take a 5-0 lead. That chased China starter Chen Kun. Zhang Li and Zhao Quansheng threw two innings each, Zhao giving up a run in the 8th inning to make the final 6-0 in favor of Taiwan. [Box Score in English on the official Konami Cup site]

Game two of the day was, as mentioned above, between KBO's Samsun Lions and Japan's Chiba Lotte Marines. Many (myself included) think that this is a preview of the final on Sunday. You can get the box score here [Konami Cup Asia Series] for an idea of who hit. A quick recap:

The Marines struck first in the first inning as Nishioka led off the bottom of the first with a triple to right. Imae drove him in with a single to center. After Franco walked, Saburo doubled in the second run to right. Then Lee hit a sacrifice fly to the wall in left to put the Marines up 3-0.

Lotte added a run in the fourth inning when designated hitter Hashimoto hit a solo home run to right.

Lotte added two more runs in the fifth inning. Imae drew a one out walk, then Franco singled him to third. Samsun starter Martin Vargas then let loose a wild pitch that allowed Imae to score and Franco to move to third base. (Lotte showed a lot of agression on the base paths - not just here.) Saburo then sacrificed Franco in with a fly to the fense in center.

Kobayashi Hiroyuki threw six innings for Lotte. He gave up two runs in the sixth inning, both earned, giving up four hits in that inning. Kobayashi only gave up two hits to Samsun over the first five innings.

Watching the game, it looked like the Marines' defense was getting a little sloppy in the second half of the game. (The only error in the game was charged to Nishioka in the fourth inning.)

My first impression of the Lions was that they had a number of speedy guys who were able to stay out of double plays. But that was the first half of the game. Double plays in the seventh and eighth really killed the Lions' chances. Also, relief pitching struck me as very good as they held the Marines to just three hits over the last three innings.