Venezuela's combined pitching and hitting efforts helped secure a 3-1 win against a tough Japanese side. Eudomar Toyo gave up just one run on seven hits, while teammate Erwin Diaz powered the offence with two RBIs.
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<p>Eudomar Toyo
delivered a solid performance on the mound for Cuba, giving up just one run on
seven hits and striking out six batters, while Erwin Diaz had one hit and two
RBIs that were good enough to beat a tough Japanese side on Tuesday in the XVII
WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup.</p>
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<p>The crowd
at Rosedale Park were on its feet both squads kept the game scoreless in the
first four innings followed by the three thrilling frames.</p>
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<p>Engelbert
Herrera singled to the left centre and eventually reaching the home plate after
another single from Edinson Marrero for one tick on the scoreboard in the bottom
of the fourth inning.</p>
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<p>Japan tried
to keep up with their South American rivals, with aggressive moves from the
batter’s box that helped get Hikaru Matsuda and Kotaro Yasumi into scoring
positions. However, they were retired on a double play to end the top of the
fifth.</p>
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<p>Carlos Villegas moved to first base off a single. Rogelio
Sequera also hit a single, moving Villegas to second base. As Rafael Flores
reached on fielder’s choice, Villegas was struck out on third, but Sequera
progressed to second base.</p>
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<p>With Sequera and Flores in scoring positions, Venezuela amplified
their mission to log more runs and they successfully completed it when Diaz
doubled to left centre to extend the advantage to 3-0. </p>
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<p>Japan kept its hope alive when Taiyo Kataoka tripled to the
left centre and scored the run on the next play from Kazuya Toriyama who
singled up the middle.</p>
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<p>However, Toyo recovered quickly and struck out the next three
Japanese batters to close the game in Venezuela’s favour 3-1.</p>
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