Baseball: Japan loses to the U.S. in 1st defeat at Premier12

Japan suffered its first defeat of the Premier12 baseball tournament on Tuesday, losing to the United States 4-3 in the super round.Japan, led by manager Atsunori Inaba, is 2-1 in the six-team super round, having defeated Australia on Monday and Taiwan in the opening round last week.Hideto Asamura went 3-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the home team's offense, but starting pitcher Rei Takahashi and the relievers struggled against the hard-hitting Americans at Tokyo Dome.Asamura, who plays for the Rakuten Eagles in the Pacific League, scored Seiya Suzuki with an RBI single in the fourth when J…READ FULL ARTICLE