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Japan defeats Italy and advances to semi-finals

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PHOTO YUICHI YAMAZAKI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

(Tokyo) Shohei Ohtani allowed no runs in his first four innings on the mound and contributed a four-run push with a good bunt to a third-inning single in Japan’s 9-3 win over Italy Thursday at World Baseball Classic.

This gain allowed Japan to participate in one of the two semifinal matches for the fifth consecutive edition. His opponent, next Monday in Miami, will be Puerto Rico or Mexico. These two countries will face each other on Friday, in Miami.

In the other semifinal, on Sunday, Cuba will face the United States or Venezuela, who face each other on Saturday.

In front of a Tokyo Dome crowd of 41,723, Ohtani set a personal best with the fastest jump shot since joining the Los Angeles Angels in 2018.

In the second round, he struck out Vinnie Pasquantino three times with a 102 mph fastball. On September 10, he booked the same fate for Kyle Tucker of the Houston Astros with a shot going 101.4 mph.

Ohtani (2-0) gave up two runs, four hits and walked one in four innings and two-thirds. He had five strikeouts. At base, he hit in four starts, plus a walk. He scored two points.

His batting average since the start of the tournament is . 438 (7-for-16), with one home run, three doubles and eight RBIs. On the mound, he posted a 2.08 ERA and had 10 strikeouts.

If Japan makes the finals on Tuesday, they could be available to start with four days off.

Ohtani extended his streak to eight and two-thirds without giving up runs before Dominic Fletcher hit a weak single to right field after two out in the fifth inning. was the 71It is and Ohtani’s last bid, nine short of the maximum allowed.

Offensively, Masataka Yoshida, a Boston Red Sox player, scored the game’s first run with a ground ball into the infield in the third inning. This was your 10It is run driven, a high tournament.

Kazuma Okamoto added a three-run home run in the third inning for Japan, which outscored their rivals 47-11 in their first five games.

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Cardinals beat Blue Jays 4-1

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PHOTO JOE PUETZ, USA TODAY SPORTS VIA REUTERS CON

Nolan Arenado (28) of the St. louis cardinals

(St. Louis) Jack Flaherty survived a career-high seven walks and a hitter hitting zero through five innings and the St. Louis Cardinals scored three unearned runs in the third inning for Saturday’s 4–1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

It was the Cardinals’ first victory this season.

“Seven walks is not a good way to shoot,” Flaherty said. It’s not something that will work for a long time. I got through today. »

Flaherty (1-0), plagued by shoulder problems that kept him sidelined for most of last season, has only had one clean sheet, his last.

Facing the Blue Jays for the first time in his career, he struck out four batters and capitalized on a second-inning double play, started by third baseman Nolan Arenado at the expense of George Springer.

“I probably shouldn’t have been rewarded today, depending on how I pitched,” added Flaherty.

Flaherty made receptions on 49 of his 95 pitches.

“I’m proud of him,” Cardinals coach Oliver Marmol said of his starter. I think we took a big step in the right direction today to stay calm and figure out how to make an adjustment instead of snowballing. This match could have turned really awful in the blink of an eye and he didn’t let that happen. »

The Torontonians had three hits after collecting 16 singles in their season opener.

“It’s weird because you’re sitting and waiting, and you’re still waiting, and you need somebody to hit a hit,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. We didn’t make it today, but I thought our approach was good. »

Facing Andre Pallante, third of five pitchers for the Cardinals, Kevin Kiermaier hit a single out of reach of second baseman Brendan Donovan after an out in the seventh. Kiermaier also scored in the ninth and Bo Bichette scored off Ryan Helsley in the same inning.

A two-run single by Nolan Gorman made it 3–0. Gausman, who is 1-5 against the Cardinals, allowed eight singles in six innings of work but failed to allow an earned run.

Helsley, the National’s 2022 star and who suffered defeat on the opening day of the season, managed a five-out save.

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Fourteen deadline violations reported on Thursday

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PHOTO: ERIN HOOLEY, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Marcus Stroman was the first scorer to be flagged for taking too long to hit the field in the third inning of the Cubs’ 4-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field. It was the first of 14 violations in 15 games over the course of one day, when games lasted an average of 2 hours and 45 minutes.

(Chicago) Marcus Stroman is getting used to the new stopwatch that is now found in every Major League Baseball stadium. And for the right-handed Chicago Cubs pitcher, that’s no small feat.

“It’s difficult,” he said. “It’s a big adjustment. »

Stroman was the first scorer to be flagged for taking too long to throw to home plate, in the third inning of the game, the Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday afternoon 4-0 at Wrigley. field.

It was the first of 14 violations in 15 games over the course of one day, when games lasted an average of 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, the number of goal steal attempts per game has more than doubled from the previous opening day, an indication that efforts to increase trail runs may be working.

The Runners had 21 steals in 23 attempts on Thursday, compared with five in nine attempts in seven games on Day One of the 2022 season.

Five violations were committed by batters, eight by pitchers, and one by catcher on Opening Day, when all clubs began the season on the same date, the first since 1968.

Stroman looked long in the direction of rookie Brice Turang, who caught his spread from second base with Christian Yelich at pinch hitter and there were no outs.

Just as Stroman focused his attention on Yelich, plate umpire Ron Kulpa called out the new rule violation.

Announcing his decision, Kulpa pointed to his wrist. The automatic ball brought the count to two balls and two strikes.

Stroman did not protest.

“You have to keep an eye on the timer. You try to worry about your pitch. You try to pay attention to runners on the trails. You try to make sure you have a good grip on the ball. There’s so much going on right now,” noted Stroman.

“So it definitely adds another element to the game that is challenging, in all honesty. There’s no doubt that it’s not easy being a pitcher there and feeling rushed at times.”

Major League Baseball instituted the use of a stopwatch to speed up the pace of games. Players have 30 seconds to restart play between two batsmen. Between pitches, pitchers have 15 seconds when there are no runners on the trails, and 20 seconds if there are. Batsmen must be seated in the box and show that they are ready to tackle the pitcher with at least eight seconds on the clock.

If a pitcher fails to pitch in time, the penalty is an automatic ball. If the batsman is not ready in the required time, the penalty is an automatic strike.

Boston Red Sox star hitter Rafael Devers became the first batter to be called a third strike for a rule violation.

Devers was looking down at the ground and busy wiping dirt off his cleats in the eighth inning when Lance Barksdale signaled a foul when the Red Sox hitter had two strikes against him.

“There are no excuses,” said Red Sox head coach Alex Cora. “They know the rules. »

JD Davis of the San Francisco Giants was the first batter fouled in the ninth inning of a game at Yankee Stadium.

Meanwhile, in Washington, Atlanta Braves reliever Collin McHugh spread his arms out to his sides after being penalized by official Dan Bellino in game eight against the Nationals.

The penalty resulted in batter Jeimer Candelario being left with a favorable one-ball count and no strikeouts. He then let three more shots out of the strike zone for what was actually a three-ball free pass.

“I didn’t even realize it happened, honestly,” said Braves head coach Brian Snitker. “It will happen. »

Inauguration Day went generally well, but there were some issues in Miami.

In the fifth inning, New York Mets starting ace Max Scherzer tackled Marlins slugger Bryan De La Cruz until the clock reached zero.

De La Cruz started shouting “Bullet! Ball ! Ball ! – hoping to be credited with an automatic bullet. However, plate official Larry Vanover believed the hitter was requesting a timeout.

Scherzer went unpunished with an automatic and then forced De La Cruz to hit a low fly.

The next inning, Vanover frustrated Mets star Jeff McNeil with a transgression that he decided to cancel this time around.

McNeil was waiting for teammate Pete Alonso to return to first base after a foul ball when Vanover gave him an automatic grab. The decision led to an altercation with McNeil and Mets manager Buck Showalter, who appeared irritated that the clock had started before Alonso returned to first base.

For McNeil, not much changed in the end; a few pitches later, he hit a ground ball that crossed the infield for a single return for a run.

“I love the rhythm,” said Scherzer. “I don’t like the clock. My opinion on this is firm. I think the employee should be free to turn off the clock. »

In a 10-9 victory over the Red Sox, the Baltimore Orioles stole five bases. In major league baseball, the success rate for stealing attempts was 91.3%, up from 75% last year.

In fact, there was only one day in the entire 2022 campaign where at least 20 thefts were recorded with a success rate greater than 90%. The feat happened on July 26, when runners stole 22 bases in 24 attempts.

These lane feats came after Major League Baseball restricted pitchers to just two lane pitches per batter.

A third attempt must lead to an out, otherwise pitchers will be penalized with an illegal fake. In addition, the pads were widened, which reduced the distance between the bases by one and a half meters.

Associated Press baseball columnist Ronald Blum and Associated Press sportswriters Howard Fendrich (Washington), Kyle Hightower (Boston), Alanis Thames (Miami), Tim Booth (Seattle) and Beth Harris (Los Angeles) collaborated on this text.

Source: lapresse

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Blue Jays start season with hard-fought victory in St. Louis

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PHOTOJEFF ROBERSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vladimir Guerrero Jr had three runs during the game.

(St. Louis) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove three runs, including the game-winner on Thursday, as the Toronto Blue Jays opened their season with a 10-9 win over the Cardinals in St. Louis. Louis.

George Springer tapped safety five times, all singles. He had five hits for the fourth time in his career.

“It’s great,” Springer said. Of course you want to start off on the right foot. It’s just a game, but I’m going to take all the hits I can. »

Adley Rutschman of the Orioles also had five hits in Boston.

Two players with five hits on the first day of a regular season, we haven’t seen that since 1901.

Bo Bichette added three singles and a double, while Matt Chapman added three singles.

There were 19 hits for the visitors and 15 for the Cardinals.

“There were ups and downs,” said Toronto team manager John Scheider. But practically all of our players had good hits. »

Springer scored the first point of the game on a Daulton Varsho double.

“Our attack was excellent,” said Varsho, who also hit a sacrifice fly. We never give up. That’s the kind of club we are. »

The Blue Jays won the season opener for the fourth straight season.

This time they came from behind 9-8 in the ninth, against Ryan Helsley (0-1).

Springer tied it with a single and Guerrero followed with a sacrifice fly.

For the Cards, Tyler O’Neill scored in the season opener for the fourth straight season.

Receiver Willson Contreras left the field after the eighth inning with a knee injury.

Nolan Arenado added three points, including two in the double against Yimi Garcia (1-0).

Jordan Romano made the save. Last out was Lars Nootbar at bats, using a slipper.

Alek Manoah allowed five runs and 11 hits in three innings and a third.

Miles Mikolas also racked up 10 strikeouts, allowing five runs and 10 hits.

The previous Thursday, the Blue Jays placed pitchers Hyun Jin Ryu and Mitch White on the disabled list.

Ryu’s name has been placed on the injured list for a period of 15 days, retroactive to March 27th, as he continues to recover from Tommy John-style surgery performed on June 18th.

White was also placed on the 15-day disabled list, also retroactive to March 27, with right elbow inflammation.

Ryu, a left-handed pitcher, made six appearances for the Blue Jays last season. He was 2-0 with a 5.67 GAA and 16 strikeouts.

The 36-year-old South Korean was suspended against the Chicago White Sox on June 2, shortly after reaching the 1,000 career innings mark. Damage to his ulnar collateral ligament was later noted.

White was destined to be the fifth starter or be brought in as a replacement this season.

White, 28, went 1-7 with the Blue Jays last year. His average was 5.45 and he had 78 strikeouts in 99 innings.

Source: lapresse

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