KND Report: Chia-Jen Lo wins rain-shortened 2009 MLB Futures Game

July 12, 10:40 PMAsian-American Sports ExaminerMichael Street

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Rain chased the fans off the field—and Junichi Tazawa from the mound—
during this year's minor-league Futures Game (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

In a game delayed four hours by rain, the World team came back to beat the U.S. squad, 7-5, with the win going to Chia-Jen Lo, the Taiwanese righty.

The World has won the minor-league Futures Game each of the past two years, and the MVP both times has been an Asian player.

In 2007, Chin-lung Hu went 2-2 with two RBIs and a run scored to win the award, and Che-Hsuan Lin also went 2-2 in 2008 with a 2-run homer that put the World team ahead for good.

This year held promise for an Asian threepeat, as the starting pitcher was Junichi Tazawa, the Japanese prospect who went to Boston last offseason after a tumultuous international conflict over the Japanese professional draft.

Tazawa was warmed up and ready to go when the game began, but the rain that had been drizzling turned into a deluge midway through the first inning, and the teams had to leave the field.

When they returned four hours later, neither starting pitcher returned to action, and it was decided that the game would last seven innings, instead of the usual nine.

This made it less likely that the other two Asian players on the World rosters—Chia-Jen Lo and Tampa Bay prospect Kyeong Kang—would get to play.

The World team had plated two runs in the first inning before the rain delay, and they held that lead until the bottom of the fifth. Leading 3-2, Luis Perez served up a three-run homer to Jason Castro that gave the US squad a 5-3 lead.

This score would hold through the sixth, and Chia-Jen Lo entered in the bottom half of the frame. Lo became the first Taiwanese player in the Astros organization when they signed him in November, outbidding several other teams for his services.

They project Lo as a future closer, and he's been working out of the bullpen at both levels he's pitched at this year, the high-A Lancaster JetHawks and the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks (where his battery mate is Jason Castro). He has a 1-1 record with 1 save, and a 2.63 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP, though much of that line is helped by his 1.78 ERA, 0.91 WHIP at Lancaster.

Lo picked up two quick outs in today's Futures Game, inducing a groundout from Danny Espinosa and a flyout from Jemile Weeks (younger brother of Rickie Weeks).

Then Desmond Jennings hit an easy grounder to Dayan Viciedo at third base, and Viciedo threw several feet over first baseman Alex Liddi's head. Jennings advanced to second on the overthrow, then stole third. This seemed to rattle Lo as he walked the next batter, Josh Vitters, on four straight pitches, then did the same to Chris Carter behind him.

Though the walks weren't intentional, Lo was staying well outside the zone on most of the pitches, so it might not have been nerves but a deliberate choice. Whatever the reason, he bore down on Scott Sizemore (no relation to Grady), who fouled back a 2-2 high fastball into the glove of Jesus Montero for the third out.

Kattobase Nihonjin Dairiigaa!

In the top of the seventh, the World team came alive.

Down 5-3, Brett Lawrie hammered a leadoff double off the left field fence and Starlin Castro moved him to third by beating out on a swinging bunt back to the pitcher.

Lawrie scored and Castro advanced to second on a wild pitch to Pedro Baez, who later grounded out for the first out of the inning. Alcides Escobar hit the ball up the middle to plate Castro, who was the tying run. Escobar moved to second on an error by Weeks.

After pitcher Trevor Reckling struck out Tyson Gillies for the second out, Brad Lincoln came in to pitch, facing Rene Tosoni. Tosoni took a strike, then ripped an inside fastball down the first base line for an RBI double that put the World ahead.

Viciedo followed this up with a smoking double to deep right that scored Tosoni, and the World went from trailing by two to leading by two, 7-5. The next hitter, Carlos Santana, worked a walk to bring up the only bench player left, South Korea's Kyeong Kang.

But Kang couldn't keep things rolling, and fell quickly behind 0-2 before popping up weakly to the pitcher to end the inning.

The U.S. threatened after J.C. Sulbaran walked two with two outs, and Jemile Weeks got a hold of one that he hammered to deep center. But Gillies ran it down on the warning track, and the game ended, with the World winning, 7-5.

Tosoni, a Canadian, won the MVP award for his go-ahead hit, ending the recent run of Asian MVPs, and Asian-American sports fans were certainly disappointed at the absence of Tazawa.

It was a smaller consolation to have Lo, who became the pitcher of record since the winning run was scored before he was replaced, named the winner. It's one of those odd quirks of baseball scoring to have his name next to the "W," since he pitched well, but no better or worse than the two other World pitchers who put up scoreless frames.

Still, we'll take it and look for next year to see our favorite Asian stars on the Futures field. (The Minor League All-Star game features AAA players, none of whom are Asian in 2009).

As for Tazawa, there's an outside shot that he'll be called up to the majors by Boston when rosters expand in September, so we can all hope to see him then.