In defeat, Eric Filia and Team USA baseball still win silver in Tokyo
Hits were hard to come by Saturday at Yokohama Stadium.
The Japanese made theirs count, while the Americans did not.
Japan bested Team USA 2-0 in the gold medal game of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, taking an early lead and keeping the United States off the board for the remainder of the night to secure the victory. Former UCLA baseball outfielder Eric Filia was the first American to get on base, knocking a single to right in the second inning, and he made it on again via a hit by pitch in the sixth as well.
He never advanced past first though.
As a team, the United States only had four at-bats with a runner in scoring position. They finished 0-for-4 and got blanked as a result.
The United States finished with six total hits, compared to Japan's eight. The Japanese also had one more extra-base hit than the Americans, one that helped launch them ahead early on in the game.
Japan's Munetaka Murakami lifted a solo homer to left with one down in the third frame, opening the scoring and giving his team a lead they wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game. The Japanese's other run was unearned, and came to be as a result of center fielder Jack Lopez's throwing error with one out in the bottom of the eighth.
Lopez grounded out to end the game in the top of the ninth, meaning Filia wouldn't get the chance to redeem his own inning-ending groundout in the eighth.
The scoreless night for Team USA – aside from costing them redemption against a Japan squad that beat them 7-6 in extras a few nights earlier – also dampened the mood for the ensuing medal ceremony. Instead of ending the tournament with gold hung around their necks, Filia and his teammates' final impression was a loss and runner-up finish on the biggest stage possible.
That runner-up finish still earned them some serious hardware – a team's worth of silver medals.
Filia finished the tournament hitting .263, starting every game in right field.
He and Team USA picked up a couple of tight losses at the Olympics, but they can rest easy knowing they both came to the same team that won gold when it was all said and done.
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