Japan laundered USA team, settled for baseball silver as hosts claimed Olympic gold

Five Japanese pitchers combined for a six-hit shutout on Saturday as the hosts beat the United States 2-0, securing baseball’s first Olympic gold for a nation that eats and breathes the sport.

Third baseman Munetaka Murakami gave Japan, the best player in the world, the only run they would need, with a third inning homer against losing pitcher Nick Martinez.

He limited Japan to this race in six effective heats. The hosts added an insurance run in the eighth to seal the victory in the gold medal game in Yokohama.

The US team, made up of minor leaguers and free agents, put the runners in scoring position in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but failed to bring any home.

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Saturday’s victory sees Japan dominate the Olympic Two Diamond, after the hosts beat the Americans last month for gold in softball. They also enjoyed an earlier victory over Team United States in baseball on Monday.

Baseball was last played on the Olympic stage in 2008 before it, along with softball, was brought back at the insistence of yakyuu-loving Japan.

Despite his love affair with the American hobby, Samurai Japan had not been a member of the relatively closed club of baseball gold medalists: United States (2000), Cuba (1992, 1996, 2004) and Korea. of the South (2008).

The USA loss deprived USA third baseman Todd Frazier of an incredibly rare diamond brace.

Frazier led other youngsters in Toms River, New Jersey, to the Little League World Series title in 1998.

The end of the tournament will send second baseman Eddy Alvarez home with a silver medal, which he can place in the trophy box alongside his 2014 speed skating silver.

The 31-year-old native of Miami and the son of Cuban immigrants, Alvarez is now one of three Americans to win a medal at the Winter and Summer Olympics.

The previous two American doubles were Eddie Eagan, boxing gold medalist in 1920 and four-man bobsleigh champion in 1932, and Lauryn Williams, who won gold in 2012 in the 4×100 relay and then silver in 2014 in bobsleigh. together.

This US silver medalist team consisted of minor leaguers licensed to compete in the Olympics by their parent clubs and veteran free agents seeking the attention of an MLB team. The United States team was one of the last teams to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

With the Olympics being held concurrently with the multi-billion dollar national baseball season, the MLB has not stopped the season or allowed the best players in the game to participate in these quadrennial games.

On the other hand, the National Hockey League has regularly interrupted its season to allow the best players in the world to compete in the Olympics. The league recently announced its 2021-22 schedule, which includes a break for the winter games.

The United States also won gold in men’s basketball early on Saturday, with Kevin Durant leading a star team to his fourth consecutive Olympic title shortly after the end of the NBA season.