Kaito Kozono drove in seven runs with a pair of home runs and a triple as Japan kept its international winning streak alive with a 9-1 win over the United States on the first day of the Premier12 super round.
Venezuela also got off to a winning start with a 2-0 victory over Taiwan earlier in the day. The top four teams in the tournament are competing for a spot in Sunday’s final.
Kozono, who hit just two homers in 143 games for the Hiroshima Carp during the NPB season, put the Japanese in the lead with a tiebreaking two-run triple in the fifth inning and followed it up with a three-run home run in the seventh and a two-run shot in the eighth. Kozono finished 3-for-5.