TAOYUAN, TAIWAN ¨C Overshadowed by the home runs hit by Sho Nakata and Nobuhiro Matsuda, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo was something of an unsung hero in Japan¡¯s 10-2 victory over the United States on Saturday night in the Premier 12.
Tsutsugo didn¡¯t blast a homer like his two teammates. But without his earlier offensive efforts, the game at Taoyuan International Stadium could¡¯ve been a lot tighter.
Tsutsugo drove in a run with a double to cut a 2-0 deficit to one in the fourth. And in his next plate appearance, he again came up with an RBI double to pull Samurai Japan even before Nakata belted a three-run homer in the sixth.
Tsutsugo coolly had another RBI hit in the seventh to set the table for Matsuda, who smacked a grand slam.
Among Samurai Japan¡¯s many heroes, Kokubo gave credit to Tsutsugo for turning the tide in Japan¡¯s favor.
¡°Tsutsugo had RBI hits in two at-bats in a row. It gave us some momentum,¡± Kokubo said after Saturday¡¯s games. ¡°After that, Nakata hit the homer, but it was Tsutsugo¡¯s RBI hit that gave us the momentum today.¡±
Tsutsugo, who has gone 6-for-14 with four RBIs hitting in the 5 hole for Japan, humbly said that because Nakata hits right after him, he has been able to relax more when he is hitting.
¡°Because Nakata is right behind me, I¡¯ve tried to set the table for him and that¡¯s paid off so far,¡± Tsutsugo said.
Tsutsugo, 23, usually hits in the cleanup spot for the Yokohama BayStars and had a banner year in 2015. He had a .317 batting average, 24 home runs and 93 RBIS, all career-highs.
Tsutsugo had a costly fielding mistake in Thursday¡¯s game against the Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean country capitalized on it to tie the game.
But Tsutsugo quickly worked off his frustration in the next game against the U.S.
¡°After he had the mistake, he quickly bounced back,¡± Kokubo said of Tsutsugo. ¡°He has mental strength and I was impressed by that.¡±
Tsutsugo has noticed his own improvement as well.
¡°I think that I¡¯ve been able to grow,¡± Tsutsugo said. ¡°But I still have room to grow further.¡±
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.