USA 2-3 Japan: World Baseball Classic final – as it happened (2024)

Final thoughts

They are handing out medals on the field, so I think this makes it a perfect time to wrap things up. With the exception of one blowout (let’s not talk about USA vs Cuba ever again) these knockout stage games presented international baseball at its finest. It was a pleasure covering it for The Guardian. Thanks to everybody for following along with us here and particularly to everyone who contributed to these live blogs over the last few days. Ciao!

I received a lot of emails over these last few innings and didn’t have time to publish them all. I did very much appreciate the one comparing cricket to heavy metal acts: you were definitely speaking my language there!

I think these illustrate how exciting this year’s WBC was and I hope that this means the next one will be an even bigger deal.

Email from Joe Pearson:

It was fun to ride along. What a great game!

Email from Matthew Wai:

Hi Hunter,

Matthew from Sydney and is currently enjoying the hell out of your live commentary on Guardian as I am not able to watch the game live... (stuck at work).

Wanted to express that my love for baseball has grown exponentially over this WBC period.

Absolutely crushed batting, exuberating pitches and passionate fans are the factors of the sport taking over top spot of my list right NOW!

Unfortunately, the sport will neve be as big here with (cough cough, cricket) in place.

Keep banging these out, loving it.

Thanks, Matthew

I feel like the broadcast crew was hoping for more emotion from Ohtani, but he seemed surprisingly chill about the whole thing. Certainly less riled up then I am, and all I’ve been doing is sitting here typing.

The cameras stick with Ohtani who speaks through a translater. They mention that this was his first time closing a game since 2016. “That experience was huge for me. I knew how to prepare for it.” I’ll say!

What a storybook ending! Japan has won its third WBC, defeating the defending champions in the USA and Shohei Ohtani has gotten the final out at the expense of LA Angels teammate Mike Trout!

What a game! What a tournament! Long live the World Baseball Classic!

USA 2-3 Japan, FINAL

Trout takes Ohtani’s first pitch for a ball. Trout swings and misses at a 100mph heater. Unfathomable. 1-1. The next pitch is just outside. 2-1. Trout swings and misses at another fastball. 2-2! Team USA is down to its final strike!

The next pitch bounces. A full count! 3-2. HE SWINGS AND MISSES. OHTANI HAS STRUCK OUT TROUT TO GET THE SAVE IN THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC FINAL!

USA 2-3 Japan, top 9th inning

Bobby Witt Jr is in to pinch-run for McNeil. Betts is the next batter. One on, nobody out. Betts take a fastball on the corner. 0-1. On the next pitch, he bounces into a double play.

It’s all down to Mike Trout vs. Shohei Ohtani!

USA 2-3 Japan, top 9th inning

Jeff McNeil is up to start the top of the 9th against Ohtani, who is making only his second relief appearance. He works a full count, fouls the next pitch off. Still 3-2. Ohtani hasn’t gotten a swing and a miss yet, he’s thrown three balls and gotten three foul balls.

And he throws ball four. McNeil takes his base on a very close pitch.

USA 2-3 Japan, bottom 9th inning

The amazing thing? The third hitter in this lineup that the USA will trot out against Ohtani? That will be his teammate Mike Trout, potentially for the final out of the game. This is like a movie script!

Joe Pearson on Ohtani:

Ohtani might be the best baseball player right now. For a football reference, think of him with the goalkeeping skill of Courtois (as a pitcher) and the scoring skill of Haaland (as a hitter). Just a phenomenal talent!

I can not vouch for the accuracy of these comparison, but can say that he is indeed a phenomenal talent and if he can close out a victory for his home country against Team USA in a one-run game that will only add to his legend.

USA 2-3 Japan, bottom 8th inning

Genda is up with a runner on first and two down. Williams gets a strike on Genda, but on the throw, Yamada somehow beats out a laser-accurate throw to second base.

So there is a runner in scoring position now with one out. 0-1 on Genda. The next pitch is a ball. 1-1. Genda gets in front of the next pitch. 0-2. Williams’s next pitch is in the dirt, blocked by Realmuto. 2-2. Genda taps one to third and the throw just beats him.

We’re heading to the top of the ninth, in a one-run game and Ohtani is going to try to close this out! HOLY COW!

USA 2-3 Japan, bottom 8th inning

Two down, nobody out. Yamada gets ahead of the count 2-0 before looking at a strike. 2-1. He looks at another one. 2-2. The next pitch is too low. 3-2.

Ohtani is throwing in the bullpen and I am so pumped right now it’s ridiculous.

Back to this at-bat, Yamada fouls off a pitch. 3-2. The next pitch is outside and that’s ball four.

USA 2-3 Japan, bottom 8th inning

Okamoto works a full count, but the result is the same as the end of the previous at-bat: he strikes out swinging.

USA 2-3 Japan, bottom 8th inning

Devin Williams, currently with the Milwaukee Brewers, is up next and he managed to get the mighty Murakami to strike out swinging on three pitches.

Email from William Bradley:

Dear Hunter,

Thanks to you and the Guardian for blogging the championship between Japan (where I reside) and the U.S. (country of which I hold a passport). So far a good game! Though I am not a great fan of national anthems, I couldn’t believe your saying the Star Spangled Banner suffers in comparison to Japan’s! The one thing going for Japan’s, is that it is short!

As for the game, happy that Murakami has gotten a home run - I’m sure you know (but didn’t see that you mentioned that he had 56 last season, 2nd all-time and highest ever for a Japanese national). The local media have spent a lot of time feeling sorry for him at the opening of the WBC since he started out very slowly. Perhaps he has paled in comparison to Otani who has been doing well from the start? Once again the dynamics of players who star in Japan vs. those who star outside of Japan (evident in football/soccer) is at work, but hey, they’re all one team, right?

Hello, I knew this factoid about Murakami, but admittingly only because the broadcasters admitted it during the broadcast. (My knowledge of baseball is very MLB_centric). As far as my National Anthem opinions: I am infamous for my feelings about the Star-Spangled Banner (I mainly prefer the instrumental versions, thank you very much.)

USA 2-3 Japan, top 8th inning

Realmuto pops up. That’s two down. What a key out for Darvish. Mullins flies out, but this is definitely a lot less comfortable for Japan. To the bottom of the 8th!

USA 2-3 Japan, top 8th inning

A potentially game-changing at-bat from Schwarber there. Now Trea Turner is up with the USA feeling new life.

He hits a 1-2 pitch to the outfield for a single and he represents the tying run. I guess this is why Japan was wary about starting Darvish against these US hitters who are more aware of the pitcher. These last two hitters look more comfortable.

USA 2-3 Japan, top 8th inning

Schwarber puts up a good battle against Darvish, fouling off pitch after pitch on a 2-2 count. On the eighth pitch, he manages to foul off yet another one. Same thing on the ninth pitch. And on the tenth pitch…

HE HITS A HUGE HOME RUN. It’s a one run game!

USA 1-3 Japan, top 8th inning

Current San Diego Parde Yu Darvish, originally scheduled to be today’s starter, is here to be the set-up man for Japan. Darvish is one of the most successful Japanese pitchers to ever reach MLB. The five-time All-Star has a 93-38 record after spending a decade in the majors.

He also gets Arenado to fly out to center for the first out of the 8th inning.

Email from Joel Eley:

Hi Hunter,

Still could go either way but just wanted to say thanks for your coverage through the tournament. Pity yesterday’s game was not on but hey ho. Really been great.

I missed yesterday’s game between Japan and Mexico due to prior commitments and was so annoyed when I caught the exciting conclusion via replay on the bus back home. It might end up being the best baseball game of the year no matter what happens during the MLB season.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 7th inning

The call stands, as expected. He might have been out but it was so close that the initial ruling can’t be overturned. There’s just not enough evidence.

Yoshida will be hitting next, he hits into a double play so the non-overall call doesn't hurt the US. Now they just have six innings left to get two more runs.

Here’s the problem for Japan: they are definitely not out of the woods yet. That is a very surmountable deficit for this lineup.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 7th inning

Ohtani, who might end up closing this game out if Japan’s score remains the same, is up next with one out and nobody on base.

He outruns a routine grounder and is called safe on first! It’s a bang-bang play and it’s going to be challenged here.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 7th inning

David Bednar, an All-Star for the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, is pitching for the US and he gets Kondoh to pop out to start the bottom of the 7th.

Email from Alexandra Ashton:

Had a talk with one of my American acquaintances over me watching this final. He had this to say: “You get to see the best Japanese player ever.. on an MLB team dedicated to waste his talents forever.” Even I, a totally lost foreigner, know that he’s talking about Shohei Ohtani and he’s very good, but what team does he play for? Are they really that bad? And, surely, no world-class player could have their prime wasted without winning anything? (Tottenham supporter here. We’ve two.)

On a less comical note, what specifically makes Ohtani so good? I must say, my untrained eye doesn’t see that much difference between him and the other players. Maybe it’s an off day? I’ve no idea.

He plays for the LA Angels, who also have two in Trout, maybe the best all-around hitter in the game during his career and Ohtani. What makes Ohtani so special is that he is one of the best starting pitchers in MLB and, on the days when he’s not pitching, he’s also their designated hitter and one of the toughest outs in the game. That genuinely hasn’t happened since the days of Babe Ruth!

And yet the Angels have failed to make the postseason during the stretch when they’ve had both of them in the roster, despite the fact that MLB has extended the playoffs. It’s really a colossal embarrassment for the league.

Seventh inning stretch

In memory of great jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco.

USA 1-3 Japan, top 7th inning

Goldschmidt hits into a double play to end the US’s biggest threat of the game so far. Wow, that turned quickly.

USA 1-3 Japan, top 7th inning

So runners on first and second with nobody out. Trout, who has not had a big game so far in the biggest game of his career, lines out to right.

USA 1-3 Japan, top 7th inning

Email from Sachiko Sato

“one can’t say enough about how this Japanese pitching staff has so far kept this lineup of big bats at bay.”

Actually, you have said nothing about the Japanese pitchers. Can you tell us about the teams they play for, their stats etc

Fair enough! I’ll try to be a little bit better at this here when I can. The new Japanese pitcher is Taisei Ota, from the Yorimuri Giants, he has 1-3 record, 2.05 ERA and he has just walked a pinch-hitting Jeff McNeil and a single to Betts to start the top of the 7th inning.

Email from Farrell:

Subject: From Tāmaki-makau-rau, A/NZ

Great to be able to follow this from the Devonport to Auckland ferry.

If you think of a seven game series as a unit,baseball is not so different from a five day test.

Both can be riveting.

Farrell

That actually makes a lot of sense, thinking of the individual unit of cricket as being the equivalent of a baseball postseason series.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 6th

Nootbaar takes strike one. 0-1. The next pitch is too hight. 1-1. The next pitch breaks a bit but lands in the strike zone. 1-2. Adam’s a strike away from escaping his self-created jam. Nootbarr fouls the next pitch. Still 1-2. The next pitch is way off the corner. 2-2. He flies this one out to Betts and we head to the seventh inning with Japan’s lead remaining two runs.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 6th

Ohtani has to head back out to hit here in the bottom of the sixth. Adam’s next pitch, that one is outside to Nakamura. 1-0. He finally gets a strike on the corner on the next pitch. 1-1 but Adam loses it once again and issues three strat pitches.

The bases are loaded with one out. The good news is that he can get out of this inning with an out. He just has to get Nootbaar out here.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 6th inning

Yamada promptly steals a base on the first pitch to Genda, surprisingly the first in this game! It’s a 1-0 count on Genda, at least until the next pitch when it promptly becomes 2-0. He fouls off the next. 2-1. The next pitch, way outside. 3-1 the next pitch is outside, so that’s back-to-back walks issued by Adam.

Always a little anticlimactic whenever a walk follows a stolen base.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 6th inning

Yamada is up next to see if he can prevent this from being a 1-2-3 inning. He works a full count and then takes ball four. So that’s a two-out base runner for Japan.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 6th inning

Okamoto’s up next. He’s hit a single and home run already in today’s game, but this time around he can only strike out on four pitches. Two down.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 6th inning

Jason Adam is now pitching for the US and he gets Murakami to swing-and-miss on a 2-2 count for the first out of the bottom of the 6th.

Email from Sara Myers:

Hi Hunter,

Cricket looks fascinating and I could tolerate the time-sink; I actually don’t like the new MLB pitch clock as I feel the games are now too short!

However, I just can’t wrap my head around a sport that lasts as long as cricket can and still end in a draw.

Thanks for the play-by-play, go USA.

Thank you, I’ve been having a blast these last few days! I’m going to be honest, I’m on the record as being a huge fan of the MLB pitch clock, but that’s partly because I’m starting to feel my age and realizing that I just don’t have as much time left as I did when I was back in my 20s and rooting for extra-inning games every single night.

USA 1-3 Japan, top 6th inning

Mullins strikes out on a 2-2 pitch and one can’t say enough about how this Japanese pitching staff has so far kept this lineup of big bats at bay.

USA 1-3 Japan, top 6th inning

Realmuto up with one out and nobody on base and he pulls a ball to third. That’s two down.

USA 1-3 Japan, top 6th inning

Is that Ohtani heading to the bullpen? OMG! I am sorry about instantly sounding like a teenager here but that would be incredible theater.

Hiromi Itoh gets Turner to fly out for the first out of the sixth inning.

Email from Olly Crawford-Ellis:

Hi to everyone else following this!

It’s nice to know that we can have a global conversation about mutual sports confusion in the sport section of a major news website. This is in-depth analysis at its best.

Cricket is easy though. People stand in a field for 5 days and only stop for tea and sandwiches sometimes. After 5 days of this, sometimes there will be a winner but usually not.

Cheers!

Hold up one second I’m now going to check whether it’s too late to become a professional cricket as an uncoordinated 41-year-old who does not understand even the basic concept of the sport because that sounds fun as heck.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 5th inning

Yoshida takes ball one. Then ball two. The next is a strike. 2-1. He fouls off the next, evening up the count. He then bounces out to the pitcher and that’s five innings in the book.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 5th inning

Ohtani takes a massive swing and comes up empty. 0-1. He then takes a ball. 1-1. The next pitch, just off the outside corner. 2-1. He grounds out to the shift on the next pitch, Kondoh takes second base on the play, so he’s in scoring position for Yoshida.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 5th inning

Freeland walks Kondoh on five pitches, putting a runner on base for Ohtani with two out.

USA 1-3 Japan, bottom 5th inning

Freeland is back out for one more inning, presumably his last. He gets Nootbaar to fly out for the first out of the bottom of the 5th.

Email from Rosemary Chiba:

Great to see live coverage on the G!

I’m also a base-ball ignoramus but married to a Japanese man who can enlighten me and literally one town down the road from Otani, plus Sasaki from our coast so, rooting for Japan’s victory comeback since 2009.

It’s definitely a great matchup: Japan won back in 2009 while the US is defending champions. Couldn’t ask for a better one, in retrospect.

USA 1-3 Japan, top 5th inning

Schwarber takes ball one. Then he takes ball two. Things are getting dicey for Japan here. The next pitch is in the dirt. 3-0. Takahashi’s one pitch away from walking the bases full. Schwarber has the green light, unfortunately, as he skies the pitch to the outfield for the final out.

We’re halfway through regulation and this is definitely a much more briskly paced game than Saturday’s between the US and Cuba.

USA 1-3 Japan, top 5th inning

Arenado lays off a pitch just an inch too low. That’s a good eye right there. 1-0. He takes one way outside. 2-0. Arenado then pulls a splitter and gets on base. That’s two on base, still two down.