Brandon Dickson, a 36-year-old nine seasons removed from the major leagues, was the first out of the bullpen and the first to stumble.
Edwin Jackson, a 37-year-old released by five big league teams, was the last.
Four of seven U.S. relievers combined to give up five runs as the United States blew a three-run lead in a 7-6 loss to Japan on Monday night that pushed the Americans within a loss of Olympic elimination.
“We played a good game tonight,” U.S. manager Mike Scioscia said. “There were some things that got away from us on the mound.”
Japan overcame a short outing by Masahiro Tanaka. Yuki Yanagita tied it 6-6 with an RBI grounder in the ninth off Scott McGough and Fukuoka teammate Takuya Kai hit a winning single in the 10th against Jackson (0-1) that put the hosts in the semifinals.
Suguru Iwazaki, Koudai Senga, Yasuaki Yamasaki, Yudai Ohno and Ryoji Kuribayashi (1-0) combined for 5 1/3 innings of one-hit scoreless relief.
