Photo by Rob Tringali/WBCI/MLB via Getty Images
miami – Shuhei Ohtani walked off the field and cheered fellow Los Angeles Angels Mike Trout in the final game the entire baseball world wanted to see, leading Japan to a 3-2 victory over the defending champion the United States on Tuesday night for their first baseball classic since World Series. . 2009.
“This is the best moment of my life,” Otani said through an interpreter.
Otani, a two-way star who captivated fans across two continents, has been voted the WBC’s Most Valuable Player. He held the trophy to his chest, after he snatched the trophy by hitting Trott.
“Whether I took him out or he took a hit on me, I didn’t want to have any regrets. I wanted to put on my best show,” Ohtani said.
He did, and then some.
Trying to protect the pitching edge, with two outs and no one on base, Ohtani blinking from the 100-mile-per-hour heat started making Trout swing and miss on two fastballs. With the count complete, Trout waved in a sharp slider to end the ninth inning.
“I think every baseball fan wanted to see that. I’ve been answering questions about it for a month and a half,” Trott said.
“Do you think it would end any other way?” He said.
RJ Anderson of CBSSports.com called it so “The match everyone wanted to see… a battle of arguably the two best players in the world.”
Otani hit a single in the seventh inning as a designated hitter before walking left line to Japan Stadium to prepare for his third appearance in the tournament.
After big league hero Jeff McNeil walked to start the ninth, Ohtani Mookie grounded Betts on a double play.
That sparked Trott, the three-time US captain and MVP.
“I saw him take deep breaths to try and control his emotions,” said Team USA coach Mark DeRosa. “I can’t even imagine being in that moment, the two best players on the planet competing as teammates at that place.”
Ohtani ends up saving it. His only other save came in the Japan postseason game in 2016.
“He’s got bad stuff,” Trout said. “He threw me a good show at the end.”
Just not the ending DeRosa wanted.
“I was hoping it would go our way with Miki popping one against Ohtani,” he said.
He said, “The whole world saw Ohtani come in, a big place, fight. It’s kind of the way the script was written. I wish it was different.”
“But the baseball world won tonight,” he added.
Otani hit . 435 with one homer, four doubles, eight RBIs and 10 walks, as Japan joined the Dominican Republic in 2013 to become the only undefeated champion of the MLB National Team. Ohtani, the 2021 AL MVP was 2-0 with a save and a 1.86 ERA on the mound, striking out 11 in 9 2/3 innings pitched.
“What he does in the game is what probably 90% of the players at that club have done in the minor league or youth leagues, and he’s able to pull that off on the bigger stages,” DeRosa said. “He’s the unicorn of the sport. I think other guys will try it, but I don’t think they’ll do it to his level.”
Japan won 7-0 and outscored the opponents 56-18, reaching the final for the first time since winning their first two WBCs in 2006 and 2009. No other country has won the title more than once.
Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto starred as Japan advanced 3-2.
Trea Turner put the U.S. ahead in second by hitting his fifth home run of the tournament, and Kyle Schwarber pulled the Americans in for a run when he holed into the eighth off Yu Darvish.
It was the second major title in a row for the Japanese, who beat the United States 2-0 in Yokohama for the 2021 Olympic gold medal. Japan used the best players in that tournament while the United States fielded major leagues and top prospects.
Turner put the United States ahead in the second half with a left tackle against Shota Imanaga (1-0), tying South Korean Seong Yup Lee in 2006 for the most in the WBC. That lit up a cut-down crowd of 36,098 – fans were given bracelets with flashing colored lights.
Tied as the two-time Central League MVP, Murakami, 23, hit the first pitch from the bottom half when Merrill Kelly (0-1) lofted his fastball. Murakami drove it at 115.1 mph to the right upper deck, 432 feet away.
Murakami’s late-match brace defeated Mexico 6-5 in Monday night’s semi-finals, putting Japan ahead in the 2021 gold medal game.
Japan loaded the bases in the second on singles by Okamoto and Susuke Genda, and a walk to Yuhei Nakamura. Lars Nutbarr, the first non-Japanese-born player to appear for the Samurai Warriors, followed with a goal-scoring performance from Aaron Loup to take a 2-1 lead.
Okamoto extended his lead in the fourth when he sent a flat slide from Kyle Vreeland over the wall at left of center.
Japan was over 9-5 as Imanaga combined with six relievers to keep the United States to 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The 29-year-old left fielder and Shusei Togo served two rounds each, and Hiroto Takahashi, Hiromi Itoh and Taisei Ohta each had three points each, with Ohta escaping unexpected two-round trouble by retiring Trout on a flight and getting a pee. Goldschmidt landed in a double play.
Trout and Otani hugged behind the batting cage during pre-game practices, then carried their country’s flag while leading their teams toward home plate in single file while serving, Trout down the right line and Otani at left.
Several thousand fans had arrived hours earlier to watch Ohtani practice hitting and applauded him as he hit the drive from the video board atop the second deck in center.
Trout hit . 296 in the tournament with one homer, seven RBIs, and 12 strikeouts.
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