Morishita Final Four Japan defeats Chinese Taipei 4-0 in APBC opener

Morishita's final shot

Japanese national team outfielder Shota Morishita is playing to first base after hitting the final solo shot in the top of the 7th inning in the first game of the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) 2023 preliminary round against Chinese Taipei held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 16th.

Japan concentrated its firepower in the second half and defeated Chinese Taipei in the first game of the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) 2023 preliminary round.

In the first game of the preliminary round against Chinese Taipei held at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on the 16th, Japan scored 1 point thanks to Shota Morishita's winning shot in the 7th inning and scored an additional point in the 9th inning to win 4-0.

Japan, the 'defending champion', was blocked by Taiwanese starter Gu Linrueiyang (3 hits and 1 run in 6⅔ innings) on this day, and only made its first hit after one out in the 6th inning.

Gu Linrueiyang is a pitcher who made his name known to Korean fans by making a relief appearance against Korea in the Hangzhou Asian Games preliminaries and pitching two innings with one hit and no runs allowed.

Morishita's oriental medicine saved Japan.

In the top of the 7th inning when the game was tied 0-0, Japan's leadoff hitter Kaito Gojono reached base with a single to left, and then suffered a ridiculous bases-loaded hit, and their momentum was lost again.

However, Morishita caught Gurinrueiyang's fastball and arched a solo over the left wall to score the first point.

Morishita is a rookie outfielder who joined the Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese professional baseball team as a first-round pick this year.

Morishita, who played in 94 regular season games and posted a batting average of 0.237, 10 home runs, and 41 RBIs, accumulated 7 RBIs in the Japan Series, the most for a rookie ever, helping Hanshin rise to the top after 38 years.

In the first game of APBC, Morishita was the main character with the winning hit.

Morishita also created an opportunity for an extra point in the top of the 9th inning by hitting a hit to right with one out.

Japan continued the opportunity to base the bases with one out with consecutive hits by Shugo Maki and Teruaki Sato, and added one point with Jusei Mannami's ground ball to the shortstop.Then, timely hits from Shogo Sakagura and Makoto Kadowaki made it 4-0.

The Japanese pitching team held Taiwan's batting lineup to three hits.

Korea, which won the previous game 3-2 over Australia in a 10th inning walk-off, will play the second game of the preliminary round against Japan at 7 p.m. on the 17th. 토토사이트