
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani lays down a surprising bunt in the third inning against Italy on Thursday night at Tokyo Dome.
2:00 JST, March 18, 2023
Yomiuri Giants slugger Kazuma Okamoto hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs to power Japan to a 9-3 victory over Italy in the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic on Thursday night at Tokyo Dome.
With the victory, Japan earned a trip to Miami for a semifinal clash on Monday (Tuesday morning Japan time) against the winner of the quarterfinal between Mexico and Puerto Rico as it looks to regain the title it last won in 2009.
Japan starter Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels picked up the victory after giving up two runs on four hits over 4⅔ innings. He struck out five and walked one, but also hit two batters when Italy rallied for two runs in the fifth inning.
But Ohtani’s most eye-opening play of the day came at the plate, when the power-hitting two-way star surprisingly put down a bunt that ended up as an infield hit and led to Japan’s first run in a four-run third inning.
Okamoto, playing in his home stadium, capped the third-inning outburst with his first home run of the tournament, in which Japan won all four of its Pool B games.
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows’ Munetaka Murakami, the Central League Triple Crown batting champion last season who was dropped from cleanup to fifth in the lineup, broke out of his WBC slump with his first RBI hit, doubling in a run in a three-run fifth inning.
The Boston Red Sox’s Masataka Yoshida homered to lead off the seventh inning.
"Sports" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Sumo: Onosato Pushed for Promotion to Yokozuna
-
Mourners Pay Respect to Nagashima in Funeral Service; Baseball Legends Celebrate Life of ‘Mr. Pro Baseball’
-
Japan’s Baseball Legend Shigeo Nagashima Dies at 89
-
Japan’s Latest Yokozuna Continues Stable’s Tradition of Champions Training Champions
-
Japan Baseball Legend Shigeo Nagashima Symbolized Postwar Growth; Inspired Fans With Dazzling Play and Courage Amid Illness
JN ACCESS RANKING
-
Toyoda to Become Automobile Business Association of Japan Chairman; to Help Guide U.S. Tariff-Affected Industriessns
-
Visitors to Japan Hit Single-Month Record High in April
-
Japanese Researchers Develop ‘Transparent Paper’ as Alternative to Plastics; New Material Is Biodegradable, Can Be Produced with Low Carbon Emissions
-
Japan to Introduce Car Fuel with Up to 10% Biofuels from Fiscal 2028; Limited Rollout Expected at Areas with Refineries
-
Former North Korean Agent Says Still Many Spies in South Korea Looking to Strain Relations with Japan