Seiya Suzuki and Shohei Otani, Japan overwhelms Korea

Seiya Suzuki hit two home runs and drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning to give defending champion Japan an 8-6 victory over South Korea in Saturday’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) billiards game in Tokyo.

Masataka Yoshida followed a free pass from Suzuki with a two-run hit to put Japan ahead 8-5. The Boston Red Sox outfielder hit a solo home run in the third inning (one of three home runs in the inning), and Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani also hit his second home run in as many days.

Japan won 2-0 in the round robin to take first place in Group C against Australia. The two teams are scheduled to play on Sunday.

Korea lost 1-1, and Taiwan (1-2) and the Czech Republic (0-3) formed a group.

The top two teams from each of the four pools advance to the quarterfinals, where Miami and Houston will face off. The semifinals on March 15th and 16th and the finals on March 17th will be held in Miami.

Lee Jeong-ho’s single and Moon Bo-kyung’s two-run double in the first inning put Korea ahead 3-0, and Suzuki hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning. Ohtani went deep into the third inning a day after hitting a 10-run grand slam in the second inning in Japan’s 13-0 win over Chinese Taipei.

Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs followed Ohtani late on Saturday, sending Ko Young-pyo’s 1-1 curve over the left-center wall. South Korea’s Byeong-Hyun Cho relieved Ko and immediately saw an 0-1 curveball that Yoshida sent over the right field wall.

Dodgers infielder Kim Hye-seong hit a two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning to tie the score at 5-5, and Kim Joo-won added a one-run home run in the eighth inning. However, Japan’s Yuki Matsumoto ended the frame by striking out Kim Hye-seong with the bases loaded.

Japan hit the bases loaded in the 7th inning, and Suzuki took the lead with 5 pitches against Kim Young-gyu. Yoshida took the lead with a single to center field that scored Ohtani and Kensuke Kondo.

–Field level media