With extra innings looming, and the likelihood of an upset win over powerful Cuba a very real possibility, the guys from the Toshiba-Japan baseball team might have been looking for a monetary reward if that had happened Saturday night at the World Baseball Challenge.
Had they found a way to defeat the team everyone expects to win the six-team international tournament, their bosses back home at the Toshiba plant in Kawasaki, Japan might have had to dig deeper into the company coffers to reward their players efforts.
But as it turned out, Cuba found a way to prevent that possibility, edging the Japanese team 4-3 in a highly-entertaining game in front of about 1,900 spectators at Citizen Field. Pinch hitter Giorvis Duvergal's sharp grounder to shallow right field scored Rudy Reyes from third base in the bottom of the ninth inning to end the suspense on a cool summer night. The throw to home was high and Toshiba catcher Yoshiyuki Igawa bobbled the ball as Ryes crossed the plate.
Down to their last bat in the top half of the inning, Japan tied the game in dramatic fashion with a home run over the centrefield wall from Masato Okawara, who hammered a 1-2 pitch served up by Cuban closer Jonder Martinez.
"The home run was the only way to go, I felt I had to hit a home run and I did," said Masato, through interpreter Kumi Okayama. " It gave me goosebumps when I hit that ball.
"We really wanted to win the game and we feel frustrated that we didn't win. Cuba was a little bit better than us in this game but this game gives us confidence. We are surprised it was really close. We felt a little bit of pressure [to win] to help with the situation back home, with the earthquake and tsunami, but the Cuba team said we should just enjoy the game, and we did."
Two hours before the game, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake shook the northeastern coast of Japan and there were fears to would touch off another tsunami like the one that devastated the region in March. But this time, there were no reports of damage.
The Japanese players on the team are all employees of Toshiba. Saturday's game was webcast live, where it was already Sunday afternoon in Japan when it ended.
"I think I would have asked for a raise if we had beaten Cuba," Masato laughed.
"All of our co-workers and our families will be watching this on their computers through the Internet. They will be pretending to work and watching the game instead."
Cuba had fought back from a one-run deficit with two runs in the seventh inning. Catcher Ariel Pestano, who won Olympic gold with the Cuban national team in 2004, took a pitch from Toshiba reliever Hayato Arakaki out of the park, and Cuba went ahead on a line-drive double to deep left field from Hector Olivera that scored pinch runner Reyes.
Japan grabbed a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh on a daring strategy called by manager Norihiko Inde. Yoshiyuki Igawa got his bat on a two-out bunt that scored Ryuta Matsunaga from third. Japan's successful squeeze play spelled the end of the night for Cuban starter Miguel Gonzalez.
An RBI single from Yusuke Kato delivered Masato for Japan's first run in the fourth inning.
Cuba lit the scoreboard first on a home-run offering in the second inning from Yulieski Gourriel, one of two runs charged to Kazuo Noda, who left the game in the seventh inning after allowing just four hits.
Gourriel was also a defensive standout, making plays at third base that would likely earn him a ticket to a major league team, if not for the political restrictions that prevent Cuban players from testing the free market.
A request to interview the Cuban players after the game was denied by team management.
Japan will face the Beijing Tigers in their next game Sunday at noon, followed by the Canada-Bahamas game at 3 p.m. Cuba will face Chinese Taipei Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
