Roki Sasaki brought his speed, if not his best pitching game, and four relievers completed a six-hit shutout as Japan's national team defeated Australia 9-0 in their second World Baseball Classic warm-up game on Thursday.
The one-sided win, combined with Wednesday's 8-1 victory, left Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama with even more questions about which of the players he brought to Sapporo Dome will make it to the WBC in March, when Japan will face Australia again in their first-round pool at Tokyo Dome.
"There are many questions we need to resolve, but we could get some good games with just these players," Kuriyama said of the group that excluded most of Japan's established veterans.
If he is healthy in March, the 21-year-old Sasaki, the youngest pitcher to throw a perfect game, is sure to be called up, although his performance against Australia was not nearly as impressive as the speed on his fastball.
Sasaki, who struck out a record 13 straight in his April perfect game, struck out just two over four innings, while allowing a walk and four singles.
"I didn't deal that well with the different ball, but worked throughout the game to make adjustments," he said.
Mixing in his forkball kept hitters from timing a fastball, which hit 159 kilometers (98.8 miles) per hour but lacked movement.
Samurai Japan solved the good movement Australia's pitchers were able to get, scoring twice in the second inning by taking some easy swings on pitches that missed their mark.
Ryoma Nishikawa and Kazuma Okamoto singled with one out, and a two-out walk loaded the bases for Yasutaka Shiomi to single in two runs off starter Tim Atherton.
Josh Guyer, Australia's second pitcher, allowed a run on four walks in the third. Doubles by Koji Chikamoto and Kensuke Kondo made it 4-0 in the fourth.
Shiomi reached base for the third time with a sixth-inning leadoff single and scored on a sacrifice fly. Takumu Nakano, who drew a bases-loaded walk in the third, delivered a seventh-inning sacrifice fly that made it 6-0, before three more runs in the ninth completed the rout.
After Sasaki left the mound, Australia's hitters struggled with the explosive fastball of Keiji Takahashi, who struck out four in two innings. Hiromi Ito, Atsuki Yuasa and Taisei Ota closed it out for Japan.
