Last night, Japan and Mexico faced off in the semifinal game of the World Baseball Classic. At stake? A ticket to the final tonight against the American players.
Roki Sasaki, whose portrait was painted by my colleague Maxime Trudeau yesterday, was automatically for the Japanese. And let’s say he pitched like the up-and-coming player he is.
In the first three innings of the match, it is spied on by 64 members of major league baseball that the one who will make the jump to MLB in 2027 that he has taken the measure of the Mexicans. He did it with 19 throws of at least 100 MPH.
But the 21-year-old still realized that the Mexicans weren’t there by chance. Luis Urias hit a three-run homer so Sasaki only pitched four innings.
The only good news for Shohei Ohtani, who wasn’t happy to see his club falling behind? Patrick Sandoval, his Angels teammate, was pitching quite the game for the Mexicans, indicating he’s ready for the season.
At least he had Noot to play with.
The Japanese (who didn’t often come from behind during the tournament) thought they had managed to break through Patrick Sandoval’s shell, but…
Randy Arozarena won. What a game… and what a reaction!
To see Arozarena react like this is exceptional. He played with the crowd, and moments later as Sandoval was leaving the game, the left fielder was signing autographs.
The Cuban native thrives on cameras and pressure. What a catch for Mexico.
After a few innings to miss opportunism (and to send the ball to Arozarena in the left), the Japanese got up in seventh.
And Masataka Yoshida, whose signing to Boston was disputed in the offseason, brought the teams back to square one.
13 RBIs in the tournament? It’s a record. The Sox have no regrets right now…and Shohei Ohtani was really happy. He wants to win.
It was obviously Arozarena who started the comeback in eighth. He hit a double, crossed his arms… and crossed home plate thanks to a double from Alex Verdugo.
A Red Sox player hitting back at another? We like that.
After the Mexicans went 5-3 and the Japanese went 5-4 in the eighth, the game was on the line in the bottom of the ninth. It was Shohei Ohtani who led his troops with a double on the first pitch he saw. It was his second hit of the game… in which he scored twice.
Yoshida hit the trails afterwards and the mighty Munetaka Murakami drove in two runs via a long slap in the back of the outfield.
Kudos to the pinch runner on first base, who quickly reached home plate to give his team the lead for the first time in the game.
It was, as the Mexico manager said, a step forward for the sport. And he’s right: it made for a nasty good ball game.
Reminder: we are in March.
This means that Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout will face each other in the final. One of the two will eventually win a championship and the Japanese could go undefeated in the tournament.
Shota Imanaga and Yu Darvish will pitch for the Japanese tonight…but Ohtani could finish the game on the mound if needed. We could also witness the most watched match in history.
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