Japan clinched the top spot in World Baseball Classic Pool C on Sunday with a 4-3 win over a tenacious Australia squad at Tokyo Dome, where Masataka Yoshida turned the game around with a seventh-inning two-run homer.
Japan, which hours earlier had clinched second and a spot in the WBC quarterfinals for the sixth-straight time, drew 12 walks in the game but also stranded nine runners through the first six innings as both teams’ pitchers repeatedly worked out of jams.
Australia (2-1) was poised to escape the seventh unscathed with a 1-0 lead after a Shohei Ohtani leadoff walk, but a failure to turn two brought Yoshida to the plate with one on and two outs. Yoshida, who set a WBC record with 13 RBIs in 2023, got his sixth of this tourney by blasting a low 1-0 pitch from lefty Jon Kennedy for his second homer in two games.
“Since our exhibitions and in these three games, Yoshida has been remarkably hot in the clutch,” Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata said.
After two walks set the table, Japan tacked on two eighth-inning insurance runs on a Teruaki Sato pinch-hit double and a bases-loaded walk by Seiya Suzuki.
A scoreless eighth from Atsuki Taneichi, allowed manager Hirokazu Ibata’s anointed closer, Taisei Ota, a save opportunity. The right-hander’s penchant for serving up gopher balls, however, led to a pair of solo homer that made it a one-run game.
Australia exploited Japan mistakes to break the ice with a sixth-inning run. Against lefty Chihiro Sumida, who struck out seven of the 11 batters he faced and earned the win, Aaron Whitefield doubled, stole third and scored on catcher Kenya Wakatsuki’s throwing error.
Neither starting pitcher allowed a run, with Japan’s Tomoyuki Sugano going four and Australia’s Connor MacDonald three. Japan loaded the bases in the fourth only for catcher Robbie Perkins to take the bat out of Ohtani’s hands by picking off Shugo Maki at second base for the final out.
Sugano, who compiled some of Japan’s greatest pitching seasons before moving to Major League Baseball in 2025, said the current team’s strength is its undying confidence.
“We are always positive, and just like the day before (when trailing against South Korea), I was thinking there was no way we could be beaten,” he said.
Asked whether Maki’s blunder had shaken that confidence even a little, Ibata showed his managing chops by blaming himself.
“I was too slow to signal for a review,” he said. “We are learning things every game, and I learned tonight we need a better system to manage that.”
On Monday, Australia will play South Korea (1-2). A win will earn skipper Dave Nilsson’s crew a trip to Miami for the semifinals, while a loss will see second-place in the pool decided by a tie-breaking formula.
“Very disappointed with the outcome we got really close with the best team in the world and a couple of things got out of line,” Nilsson said. “We had an opportunity to win the pool tonight. We’ll flush that. We came here feeling really good about our opportunity to get to the second round and we’ll have that chance tomorrow.”
