The Art Neuro Weblog

Olympic Baseball - Day 9
Taiwan beat the Netherlands 5-1 in what was essentially a dead rubber game. Taiwan stayed ahead and silenced the Dutch bats as they stocked up on the runs. The Taiwanese pitching staff struck out 6 and walked 3, allowing the single solo homerun to Eugene Kingsale. Chin-Feng Cheng went 3-for-4 for the Tainwanese who salvaged a bit of pride.

Japan beat Greece 6-1. Japan hit the top of the table with their win over Greece. Yoshinobu Takahashi hit his third homerun of the tournament, equaling Nobuhiko Matsunaka's 1996 effort. The Japanese staff struck out 14 but issued 4 walks, scattering 4 hits including a solo homerun. Even considering they were playing bottom-feeders Greece, that's a pretty dominant display of pitching. Japan will now face Australia in the Semi-Final.

Cuba beat Italy 5-0. Cuba were all-class as they pounded out 11 hits and didn't strike out once against a hapless Italian pitching staff. The Cuban pitchers on their part struck out 14 and walked only 1. They don't get more completely dominant than that, proving why they are the perennial favourites at the Olympic Games. Cuba will face Canada in the semi-finals.

Canada beat Australia 11-0. In a total reversal of form, Australia went down to Canada tonking out only 4 hits in their loss. The Canadians managed 12 hits for their 11 runs, securing a play-off spot against Cuba. For the Australians, it was a case of 'live by the bat, die by the bat'. They made plenty of contact but not enough to string together an offense that scored runs. Sometimes it pays to wait for your pitch, but aggressive contact hitting can often implode like this; which is why stat-heads like to work with On-base-percentage as a measuring stick. Batting Average fluctuates far more than On-Base Percentage and is a tough way to build a winning team over a longer haul.

Tomorrow will be a rest day.

- Art Neuro