Japan beats China for baseball bronze

Japan took the bronze medal in Asian Games baseball Friday, dispatching hosts China 6-2 with pitcher Kota Suda picking up the win.

Japan took the bronze medal in Asian Games baseball Friday, dispatching hosts China 6-2 with pitcher Kota Suda picking up the win.

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Japan jumped out to an early lead when Chinese pitcher Wang Pei walked Hayata Ito with two outs and the bases loaded in the first inning, bringing Mitsugu Kitamichi home for the first Japanese score.

Kenichi Yokoyama then brought two more runs in with a double, followed by a Ryo Saeki single into the gap which scored two more base runners to give Japan a 5-0 at the end of the first frame.

After Japan notched another run in the second inning, China scored two runs in the fifth inning but were never able to mount enough offense to threaten the Japanese lead. Japan won the silver medal at the Doha Asian Games in 2006.

South Korea and Taiwan play for the gold medal later Friday.