Batting 6-7-8-9 in the U.S. order, (from top) Allen, Glaus, Hinch and Morris finished off a seven-run first.
photographs by V.J. Lovero
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Not only that: Japan even made a game of it, briefly. The Japanese batters figured out Kris Benson—the lanky righthander from Clemson University—in a way not many other teams, foreign or domestic, have been able to. They nicked him for a pair of runs in the second, two more in the third, another in the fourth. Squandering perfectly good leads was not what the Pittsburgh Pirates had in mind when they took Benson as the first overall pick in the major league draft in June, but that's what he did last night. And there it was, for a brief shining moment and before a nearly full house on another lovely Georgia night: a baseball game, a two-run baseball game.
It didn't last long. The U.S. set one other Olympic baseball record besides most homers in an inning and most consecutive homers. Thanks, in part, to two more dingers, in the fifth and sixth, the U.S. put the game away. You do all that, you had better win. And the U.S. did, 15-5, in a seven-inning game abbreviated by the 10-run-lead mercy rule used by international baseball.
The U.S now has four victories and no losses in the eight-team Olympic baseball tournament, as does Cuba. (The two teams meet Sunday afternoon.) Japan is now 1-3 and in jeopardy of not qualifying for the medal round, in which the leading four teams will compete. With the qualifying tournament now more than half over, the top four teams are Cuba and the U.S., followed by Nicaragua, which is 3-1, and Italy, which is 2-2. Today, baseball takes the day off.
The field needs it. The lively international ball and the peppy metal bats have resulted in some monster games and a great number of pitcher-catcher consultations. There's practically a trough between the mound and home plate.
Last night Japan's coaches wore out some more grass, making a new path from the first base dugout to the mound. Japan's starter, Koichi Misawa, gave up a first-inning homer to Jacque Jones (a three-run model), got two outs, then was pulled after Chad Allen hit a solo shot. Misawa's replacement, sidewinder Jutaro Kimura, never recorded an out: Troy Glaus, homer to left; A.J. Hinch, homer to center; Warren Morris, the ninth hitter in coach Skip Bertman's power-crazed lineup, homer to right. Enter pitcher number three, Masao Morinaka.
Before the night was out, Japan introduced two more pitchers to American fans. That's because Jason Williams homered with two on, in the fifth, and designated hitter Matt LeCroy led off with a solo blast in the sixth. Soon after, the game was official. The Americans were jubilant, of course. The Japanese gathered in a circle outside their dugout, defeated but dignified.
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