In recent weeks, we have been treated to very high quality baseball, while the World Baseball Classic has given us quite a show. There was some criticism due to Edwin Diaz’s injury, but overall the tournament was talked about for the right reasons.
And to end the tournament in style tonight, we were treated to a clash between the United States and Japan in the grand final. The Americans, defending champions, therefore had the chance to defend their title against a Japanese team that impressed throughout the tournament.
The Americans quickly took the lead as Trea Turner, who has been hotter than the sun since the start of the tournament, hit her fifth World Classic homer to give her team the lead.
On the other hand, the Japanese quickly ensured the answer. Half an inning later, power hitter Munetaka Murakami (who hit 56 homers in Japan last year) tied the game with a single swing.
After playing the heroes yesterday with the winning hit, he is still doing his thing today.
In the same inning, Lars Nootbaar hit a ground ball that prompted an out, but also allowed Kazuma Okamoto to cross the plate. It was then 2-1 for the Japanese.
And obviously, Okamoto hadn’t finished showing off yet. Late in the fourth inning, he catapulted Kyle Freeland’s offering into the stands to score Japan’s third run.
The following innings were more relaxed, as we wondered if Yu Darvish and Shohei Ohtani would end up pitching in the encounter. The two went back and forth to the bullpen for much of the game.
However, when Darvish came into the game in the eighth inning, the Americans showed their teeth. After a duel during which the Japanese threw the ball 10 times, Kyle Schwarber demolished a shot to his liking to bring the two teams back to one point.
Then, in the ninth inning, Ohtani took to the mound to try to close the books. He first conceded a walk to Jeff McNeil, but he forced Mookie Betts to hit in a double play.
And like in a good Hollywood movie, it was obviously Mike Trout who came up to bat against Ohtani with two outs in the ninth inning.
We had a good battle between the two Angels players, but in the end it was Ohtani who had the best, as he retired Trout on three strikes to give the victory (and the title) to the Japanese .
A 3-2 victory for Japan, therefore, which won the World Classic for the third time (it had won the tournament in 2006 and 2009).
