Samurai Japan manager Hiroki Kokubo checked one more item off his to-do list Saturday night: play an extra-inning tiebreaker like he might encounter in next March's World Baseball Classic.
"That was a first for us," Kokubo said after his team came from behind twice to defeat a depleted Dutch squad. "We had simulated tie-break situations in practice though, and considered various defensive options."
Although tiebreaks have been part of international baseball since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it was the first taste of the odd system for Japan's top men's team.