Seiya Suzuki belted two homers and drew a go-ahead bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning, lifting defending champion Japan to an 8-6 victory over Korea on Saturday in a pool play game during the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo.
Masataka Yoshida followed Suzuki’s go-ahead free pass with a two-run single to stake Japan to an 8-5 lead. The Boston Red Sox outfielder belted a solo homer in the third — one of three home runs in the inning — and Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani also went deep for the second time in as many days.
Japan improved to 2-0 to match Australia atop Group C in round-robin play. Those two teams will play on Sunday.
Korea fell to 1-1, with Taiwan (1-2) and Czechia (0-3) rounding out the group.
The top two teams from each of the four pools will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be split between Miami and Houston. The semifinals on March 15 and 16 as well as the final on March 17 will be contested in Miami.
Jung Ho Lee had an RBI single and Bo Gyeong Moon ripped a two-run double to stake Korea to a 3-0 lead in the first before Suzuki launched a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. Ohtani went deep in the third, merely one day after he hit a grand slam as part of a 10-run second inning in Japan’s 13-0 romp over Taiwan.
Suzuki, of the Chicago Cubs, followed Ohtani two batters later on Saturday by depositing a 1-1 curveball from Young Pyo Ko over the left-center field wall. Korea’s Byeong Hyeon Jo relieved Ko and promptly saw his 0-1 curveball sent over the wall in right field by Yoshida.
Dodgers infielder Hyeseong Kim launched a two-run homer to forge a 5-5 tie in the fourth inning, and Ju Won Kim added another in the eighth. However, Japan’s Yuki Matsumoto struck out Hyeseong Kim with the bases loaded to end the frame.
Japan loaded the bases in the seventh before Suzuki walked on five pitches against Young Kyu Kim to regain the lead for his club. Yoshida tacked onto the advantage with a single to center field, scoring Ohtani and Kensuke Kondoh.
