Baseball: Former Dodger Bauer excels in Japan debut

Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer worked seven innings of one-run ball in his much-hyped debut in Japan, leading the DeNA BayStars to a 4-1 Central League win Wednesday over the Hiroshima Carp.

Bauer (1-0) repeatedly got in and out of jams to keep the damage to a minimum while striking out nine before a crowd of 33,202 at the BayStars' Yokohama Stadium.

The 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner with the Cincinnati Reds allowed seven hits and walked one in a 98-pitch outing.

The BayStars signed the 32-year-old right-hander to a one-year contract worth an estimated 400 million yen ($3 million) after he was released by the Dodgers following his suspension for domestic violence.

Bauer started his postgame interview by saying "Nobody beats Yokohama" in Japanese, a phrase popular among young people in the country that he picked up a day earlier.

He then switched to English and said, "I gave up a home run to my ex-teammate, but other than that, everything was good. It's a great day."

Carp third baseman Matt Davidson, who played 311 games in the major leagues until 2022, homered to left-center off Bauer to score the game's first run in the second inning.

Masayuki Kuwahara tied the game at 1 in the fourth with an RBI infield single. Taishi Kusumoto singled in the go-ahead run in the fifth off Allen Kuri (1-1) before two insurance runs came an inning later.

In the Pacific League, the Orix Buffaloes beat the SoftBank Hawks 9-4 to extend their winning streak to four games.

The Lotte Marines blanked the Rakuten Eagles 2-0, while the Seibu Lions defeated the Nippon Ham Fighters 3-1.

© Kyodo News