U.S. Pitchers' Record-Tying Night Stymies Korea

Five pitchers combine to strike out 14 hitters in the 4-2 victory YOKOHAMA, Japan -- The U.S. pitching staff tallied a record-tying 14 strikeouts while Triston Casas and Nick Allen hit home runs in a 4-2 victory over Korea in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 baseball tournament at Yokohama Baseball Stadium. The win clinched the top spot in Group B and secured a berth in the medal round for Team USA. The stars and stripes (2-0) will have an off day on Sunday before facing the Group A winner, Japan (2-0), on Monday, August 2, at 7 p.m. JST/6 a.m. EDT. The winner of that match-up will advance to the first of two semifinals. The name of the game on Saturday night was pitching. Team USA starter Nick Martinez (1-0) was strong on the mound in his debut. After giving up back-to-back singles and a run to start the game, he sat down 13 of the next 14 batters he faced, striking out the side in the top of the third. Martinez scattered four hits and no walks over five innings of work and struck out nine batters to get the win. In their two games in the Olympic Games baseball tournament, the U.S. starting pitchers have struck out 14 batters and given up zero walks in 11 innings. Scott McGough was first out of the pen for the Team USA in the sixth and promptly struck out two batters in his lone inning of work. Edwin Jackson struck out another two in the seventh before giving way to Anthony Gose, who faced the minimum in his 1.1 innings. David Robertson (1) came on to close the game in the ninth inning and, after giving up a run on a sacrifice fly, picked up a strikeout and cashed in on a Jack Lopez web gem to secure the 4-2 victory and tally his first save of the tournament. The 14 strikeouts tied the U.S. Olympic team record for strikeouts in a game. Team USA also struck out 14 batters against Italy at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. Trailing 1-0, Eddy Alvarez got things started offensively for the U.S. in the bottom of the fourth inning, taking a pitch off his right leg to get on base to lead off the inning. Casas strolled up to the plate two batters later and lifted a 2-2 breaking ball down in the zone over the right field fence to give Team USA a 2-1 lead. The stars and stripes tacked on another two runs in the fifth inning to extend their lead to three. Allen crushed the first pitch he saw over the left field wall with two outs to put the U.S. up 3-1, and Jamie Westbrook lined the very next pitch up the middle to chase Korea starter Youngpyo Ko (0-1) from the game. Alvarez followed with a single over the first baseman’s head to put runners on the corners before Tyler Austin hit an RBI-single up the middle to score Westbrook for the three-run lead. Casas led the offense on the day, going 1-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs, and scoring a run.  Through two games, Austin leads the team in batting average (.444), RBIs (4), and total bases (9) and is tied for the team lead in doubles (2) with Alvarez. The pitching staff has been stout on the mound, holding a collective 1.50 ERA, a .185 batting average against, striking out 23 hitters, and surrendering just two walks.

About USA Baseball USA Baseball is the national governing body for baseball in the United States and is committed to serving, protecting and supporting the game of baseball and its 15.6 million participants. Founded in 1978, USA Baseball fields six national teams annually and is a member of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). On the diamond, USA Baseball is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the reigning World Baseball Classic champion, and its national teams have won 62 gold medals in international competition. Off the field, the organization is dedicated to the proliferation and health of the sport through the creation and management of numerous development initiatives including Fun At Bat, Pitch Smart, PLAY BALL and the Prospect Development Pipeline. For more information on the organization, its national teams and development-driven initiatives, visit the official website USABaseball.com or USABDevelops.com.