Left-hander Utsumi gets start in game to determine Pool 1 winner

real time posted: Thursday, March 19, 2009 6:06:00 PM

SAN DIEGO -- With the pressure off, the defending World Baseball Classic champion Japanese will finish the Pool 1 bracket against rival Korea in the seeding game at PETCO Park on Thursday night.
All eyes and minds are now on Los Angeles, where the semifinals will evolve this weekend at Dodger Stadium.

Venezuela is slated to play Saturday evening against Thursday night's loser. The U.S. is scheduled to play the Pool 1 winner on Sunday evening. The finals are Monday.

"On behalf of Asia, the teams representing Asia are advancing to the semifinals," Japanese manager Tatsunori Hara said after Japan ousted Cuba, 5-0, on Wednesday night. "We've got the ticket for that. Right now, I'm not thinking about [Thursday's] game at all. I look forward to playing Korea, but I look forward to the final rounds."

Hara, the manager of the Yomiuri Giants, thought enough about Thursday night's game to name a starting pitcher. He'll go with left-hander Tetsuya Utsumi, who plays for his own Giants, against Korean left-hander Wonsam Jang.

Asked about the probability of having right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka pitch the semifinal game this weekend, Hara simply chuckled.

"Can you wait a little while?" he said.

But the obvious is having Matsuzaka ready for the weekend with 22-year-old hard-throwing right-hander Yu Darvish in reserve to start the finals if the Japanese make it for the second consecutive Classic. Wednesday night's winner over Cuba, Hisashi Iwakuma, can't pitch again until the finals and could be used in relief in that game.

In the final three games, starting pitchers can throw as many as 100 pitches.

Iwakuma said he'd be ready for any role as the Classic heads to its climax.

"Of course, I'll do whatever they ask me to do," he said.

But first things first. This will be the fourth time in this Classic that the Asian rivals will meet. Korea is 2-1 against Japan this year, including a 4-1 victory here on Tuesday night in which that team qualified for the semifinals.

Over the course of the two Classics, this is the seventh time the teams will face. The Koreans are 4-2, although Japan eliminated them in a semifinal game three years ago on its way to defeating Cuba for the inaugural Classic title.

"The biggest purpose of us coming to San Diego was that we had to win twice and then move on to Los Angeles," Hara said. "And for now the purpose is clear. We are moving on to Los Angeles. And so far our team is doing well in that sense."