Yukio Tanaka hit a solo homer and Norihiro Nakamura had a two-run double Wednesday as Japan's professional players powered the national team to a 6-1 win over Italy in Olympic baseball.
Tanaka, of the Pacific League's Nippon Ham Fighters, went 3-for-5 at Baseball Center Blacktown and scored three times as Japan won its third straight game in the preliminary round-robin tournament to go to 3-1. Italy slipped to 1-3.
After spotting Italy a one-run lead in the first, Tanaka led off the second with a game-tying homer and Chunichi Dragons catcher Fumihiro Suzuki lined an RBI double up the alley in left to put Japan ahead in the fourth.
"(My hitting today) is kind of sudden, actually," said Tanaka, who was out of the Fighters lineup earlier this summer with an injured left wrist. "I haven't been seeing the ball that well and it has been kind of like 1-2-3, swing."