Americans take advantage

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Alex Rodriguez came through with the winning hit for the United States after Japan appeared to get the short end of a controversial call.

Rodriguez hit a bases-loaded, two-out single in the ninth Sunday to give Team USA a 4-3 victory in the opener of Round 2 in the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

Vernon Wells opened the ninth with his third hit, and Randy Winn sacrificed but reached first when second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka drew an error for coming off the base while catching third baseman Akinori Iwamura’s throw.

Loser Kyuji Fujikawa threw out Wells at third on Michael Young’s attempted sacrifice, and Derek Jeter was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Ken Griffey Jr. struck out before Rodriguez appeared to be jammed on a 1-1 pitch, but his grounder got past Fujikawa and Nishioka’s sliding attempt behind second was unsuccessful.

The run was unearned because of Nishioka’s error. Rodriguez went 2 for 5, making him 7 of 14 in the Classic.

An announced crowd of 32,896 attended the opener of Round 2. Mexico and South Korea were scheduled to meet later Sunday at Angel Stadium, where single games will be played Monday through Thursday to complete the second round.

Japan appeared to take a 4-3 lead off Joe Nathan in the eighth when Iwamura flied to left with one out and the bases loaded. Nishioka beat Winn’s throw home, and second base umpire Brian Knight ruled safe when Team USA appealed the play. But plate umpire Bob Davidson overruled the call following a brief discussion with the other umpires.

It didn’t seem Nishioka left early on the television replay, and Japan manager Sadaharu Oh argued to no avail.

Japan loaded the bases in the ninth on three walks before winner Brad Lidge, Team USA’s sixth pitcher, struck out Hiyoshi Tamura to end the inning.

The fans began a “USA! USA!” chant for the first time in the game with one out and one on in the sixth, and Derrek Lee responded a few pitches later by hitting a 3-1 delivery from Naoyuki Shimizu over the left-center field fence to tie it at 3.

Shimizu was called twice for going to his mouth while on the mound – an automatic ball – shortly before Lee connected. The first came before a 2-1 pitch to Chipper Jones, who walked, and the second prior to the first pitch to Lee.

Ichiro Suzuki, not known for his power, hit Jake Peavy’s third pitch of the game into the right-field bleachers to give Japan a 1-0 lead.

Japan made it 3-0 in the second on a two-out, two-run single by Munenori Kawasaki, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup. Jones led off the bottom half by hitting a 3-1 pitch from Koji Uehara into the right-center field seats for his second WBC homer, making it 3-1.

Peavy, who worked three scoreless innings in Team USA’s 2-0 first-round victory over Mexico, gave up three runs and five hits in five innings. He used 67 pitches and settled down after a rocky start, retiring nine of his last 10 batters.

Uehara allowed seven hits and one run in five innings over 75 pitches. The pitch count is 80, up from 65 in the first round.

Dontrelle Willis will start today against South Korea, and Roger Clemens is scheduled Thursday against Mexico.