On Monday night, Japan defeated Mexico 6-5 to progress to the World Baseball Classic finals in 2023. Japan will now face the United States in the championship match on Tuesday after the US defeated Cuba in the other semifinal on Sunday. Japan is the only multi-time champion in WBC history, but with a win, the US may join them.
Japan’s Walk-Off 6-5 Victory Against Mexico Secures their Place in the Final:
Nobody struck out more in the World Baseball Classic on Monday night than Munetaka Murakami. Nobody cared after Monday night.
Murakami, who struck out three times in Japan’s quarterfinals versus Mexico, became the game’s hero in the game’s last at-bat with a walk-off two-run double that drove home Shohei Ohtani and Masataka Yoshida, both Major Leaguers, to give Samuarai Japan a 6-5 victory.
Mexico led virtually the entire game, beginning with a three-run home run by Luis Urias in the fourth inning against Roki Sasaki, whose excellent splitter was on the whole show. Patrick Sandoval, on the other hand, more than held his own for Mexico, pitching 4 1/3 innings and allowing four hits without allowing a run.
Japan’s celebrated offence eventually broke through in the eighth inning when Yoshida golfed a home run to tie the score at three. Mexico responded with two runs in the eighth to make it five-three once again, but three runs in the subsequent two frames gave Japan a dramatic victory.
Japan Won the Baseball Game:
Samurai Japan made its first championship appearance in 2009 when it overcame Korea behind Daisuke Matsuzaka. The United States will meet Japan, and Team USA will encounter a familiar face in San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish. The United States is the defending World Baseball Classic winner and will be led by Merrill Kelly on the mound. Ohtani will see Mike Trout on the other side of the field as the Angels teammates attempt to bring gold to their country. Mexico completed a Cinderella run with a win over Puerto Rico, topping Pool C and advancing to the semifinals.
This was Japan’s first game outside of Tokyo and looked just as it did. The middle-of-the-order punch of Ohtani-Yoshida-Munetaka proved decisive. It took a little longer than Japan had anticipated.
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