Overview:
Australia pushed defending champions Japan to the brink in a thrilling World Baseball Classic clash at Tokyo Dome, falling just short in a 4–3 contest that stunned a packed home crowd. Despite holding superstar Shohei Ohtani largely in check, the Australians surrendered the lead late before mounting a dramatic ninth-inning comeback. With momentum still on their side after two earlier wins, Australia now faces South Korea national baseball team in a decisive matchup for a quarterfinal berth.
In short:
(ABC-Australia) Australia fell just short of defeating baseball giant Japan at the World Baseball Classic, the sport’s premier event.
The Australian team went down 4-3 to the tournament hosts after winning their first two matches.
What’s next?
Australia will now play South Korea on Monday night AEST to earn a place in the quarterfinals.
In front of Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and pitted against the country’s sporting king Shohei Ohtani, Australia have given their illustrious hosts a real scare in their World Baseball Classic showdown in the Tokyo Dome before succumbing to a 4-3 defeat.
With the royal visitor among the full house hoping to witness more wonders from the game’s greatest player on Sunday, Australia’s pitchers managed to keep Ohtani quiet as they moved into a 1-0 lead with just three innings remaining.
But even without Ohtani managing to add a third home run in successive days on a rare off-night for the great LA Dodger, the reigning champions did finally manage to grab the lead in the seventh inning thanks to a two-run homer from Masataka Yoshida off the Australians’ fifth pitcher of the night, Jon Kennedy.
The hosts added two insurance runs in the eighth inning — and they needed them as the resilient Australians roared back, with Alex Hall clattering a home run in the ninth inning and Rixon Wingrove blasting another on the next at-bat to narrow the gap to 4-3.
Ultimately, they fell just short. However, having won their first two matches, Australia still has a chance to make it to the quarterfinals if they beat South Korea in Monday’s final group game.
For a short while, the Aussie underdogs had been dreaming of a boilover triumph as they went into the lead in the sixth inning, with outfielder Aaron Whitefield racing home after a throwing error by Japanese catcher Kenya Wakatsuki.
They had already done brilliantly to keep Ohtani at bay when he came to the plate in the third inning with the bases loaded, as the crowd bayed for a repeat of the grand slam homer he had hit just two days earlier.
But Shugo Maki was picked off by Australian catcher Robbie Perkins for the third out.
Later in the contest, discretion proved the better part of valour as the Australians gave Ohtani a couple of walks, but the Boston Red Sox star Yoshida, who also homered against South Korea on Saturday, proved the one to turn the tide.
The World Baseball Classic has become a source of huge national pride for Japan, especially since Ohtani led the nation to victory in the US in the last edition, as was signified by the emperor’s appearance alongside Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko.
It is the first time a sitting Japanese monarch has attended a professional baseball game for 60 years.
AAP