Baseball: Japan eliminates Cuba, qualifies for Premier12 Super Round

Defending champion Japan secured its place in the four-team Super Round of the Premier12 tournament with a 7-6 victory over Cuba on Sunday.The win at a rain-soaked Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium improved Japan's opening-round record to 4-0 and eliminated powerhouse Cuba (1-3) with one game left for each team in Group B.Japan's Ryoya Kurihara broke a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly off his SoftBank Hawks teammate Livan Moinelo, who worked three innings as Cuba's sixth pitcher of the night.The young Samurai Japan team, whose average age is 25.7, had a 5-1 lead …READ FULL ARTICLE