by Andrew MCKIRDY
Agence France-Presse
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run of the World Baseball Classic in Sunday’s win over Australia, then warned quarter-final opponents Italy that his unbeaten team “can score runs from anywhere”.
Facing only his second pitch of the game, Ohtani blasted a huge three-run shot that almost hit an advertising board with his own face on it, setting Japan on their way to a 7-1 win over the Australians.
The victory meant Japan topped Pool B with a perfect four-for-four record and set up a quarter-final showdown with Italy on Thursday.
Ohtani said hitting a home run at the tournament had been “a dream since childhood” and warned that he is not the only threat in the Japan team packed with talent.
“We can score runs from anywhere and our pitchers are so stubborn,” he said.
“We’re playing really well but there are strong teams out there waiting for us and I want us to get ready for that.”
Australia manager Dave Nilsson called Japan the “best team in the world” and said their performance had been “no surprise”.
“I think the turning point was when Ohtani hit that ball about 500 feet in the first inning,” he said.
“Any time they get a lead early in the game, they’re going to be very tough to chase down.”
Japan have assembled a star-studded squad combining the best of the domestic league with Major League Baseball stars like Ohtani.
Expectation is building that they can win the title for a record third time and manager Hideki Kuriyama said he was “relieved” to clinch a place in the quarter-finals.
“All I was thinking about was getting out of the group and moving on,” he said.
“Some of our play was good and there are some things that we still have to work on. First of all, we’re moving on and I’m relieved about that.”
Australia could join Japan in the quarter-finals by beating the Czech Republic on Monday.
They would play Cuba in Tokyo on Wednesday after a chaotic end to Pool A, which was being played in the Taiwanese city of Taichung.
All five teams finished 2-2, but Cuba emerged as group winners with Italy advancing as runners-up thanks to a complicated tiebreaker system.
The Netherlands, who won their first two games, were eliminated after a 7-1 loss to Italy. Taiwan went out after losing 7-1 to Cuba.
– Mexico stun USA –
In Pool C before a sellout crowd of 47,534 fans at Phoenix, Mexico shocked defending champion United States 11-5 on the strength of two home runs by Joey Meneses.
A day after the Mexicans lost 5-4 to Colombia, they delivered a stunner to the MLB squad from baseball’s birthplace, leaving both teams at 1-1.
Meneses, who plays for the Washington Nationals, hit a two-run homer in the first inning but the USA answered in the second when Kyle Tucker tripled and scored on Tim Anderson’s single.
Meneses singled in the third and scored on a single by Isaac Paredes to give Mexico a 3-1 lead.
Randy Arozarena singled in a Mexico run in the fourth for a 4-1 edge and, two batters later, Meneses blasted a three-run homer to give Mexico a 7-1 advantage.
Will Smith smashed a solo homer for the Americans in the seventh but Arozarena doubled in a run in the eighth, Tellez added a two-run single and Alan Trejo singled to left field to score Tellez. That put Mexico ahead 11-2, just shy of winning by the 10-run mercy rule.
Bobby Witt Jr. doubled in a run for the USA in the eighth and Anderson doubled in two more but that only trimmed Mexico’s final victory margin.
Canada opened with an 18-8 rout over Britain that was ended after seven innings under the 10-run mercy rule, joining Colombia atop the pool at 1-0.
The Canadians face the United States on Monday.
In Pool D at Miami, Anthony Santander and Salvador Perez each hit three-run homers to power Venezuela over Puerto Rico 9-6, lifting the South Americans to 2-0.
Israel opened with a 3-1 victory over Nicaragua.
© Agence France-Presse
