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USA 1-2 Japan, top 4th inning
Togo’s out there for another inning facing Realmuto, who falls behind 1-2 before grounding out to short.
Email from Boris Feigin:
Hi, Hunter,
How are you? Following along at work from Australia, hehe:)
It’s definitely been a great tournament so far!
Scoring only one there is definitely something that may come back to haunt Japan later…
Cheers,
Boris
It’s nice to know that this truly is being watched around the world. When MLB first announced the WBC, it was an open question whether it would stick around. It feels like it’s definitely starting to become a real event that really matters to fans around the globe.
As far as Japan: yeah two runs are not going to be enough to beat this US offense.
USA 1-2 Japan, bottom 3rd inning
Yoshida lays off the first three pitches, all of them outside. 3-0. He then induces a double play and that’s that for the third inning.
That’s kind of a 1-2-3 inning. Or maybe a 1-3-4 inning? I don’t know what exactly to call it.
USA 1-2 Japan, bottom 3rd inning
Kyle Freeland is up next pitching for the US, and manager Mark DeRosa hopes they can get a few innings from him out of the bullpen. His first task? Getting Ohtani out. No biggie right? Ohtani works a full count before taking a strike three.
That’s gotta feel good for Freeland.
Email from Sachiko Sato:
When are we going to see a WBC for club teams? Some of the Japanese pro teams deserve a chance to play against MLB teams or the Cuban league teams.
That is a fascinating idea but not one that MLB will ever let happen other than in select Spring Training exhibitions. It might be interesting if various international leagues make deals with each other to have something happen, that is unlikely but not impossible.
Still, I would 100% watch.
USA 1-2 Japan, top 3rd inning
Togo’s command is quite iffy right here. He falls behind Turner, a dangerous guy to do that against, with a first pitch way outside. Turner fouls the next pitch off, 1-1. Turner chops the next one foul. 1-2. He then swings and misses on the next pitch to end the top of the third. To the bottom of the third!
USA 1-2 Japan, top 3rd inning
Schwarber gets ahead of Togo 3-1 before fouling off the next pitch and then taking a walk. Runners on first and second now.
Again, this US offense is not going to gift you very many 1-2-3 innings.
USA 1-2 Japan, top 3rd inning
Arenado is up next, he gets ahead of the count 3-1 and then takes a walk.
USA 1-2 Japan, top 3rd inning
Togo gets Goldschmidt to fly out. That’s pretty efficient.
USA 1-2 Japan, top 3rd inning
Shosei Togo is pitching to Trout and gets him to strike out on four pitches. Always an impressive thing to do, in any context but particular with a title on the line.
Email from Olly Crawford-Ellis:
I am in New Zealand and supposed to be working right now but I think it’s important to let you and Joe Pearson know that you are not alone.
I don’t really follow baseball or understand it though, so can you please explain everything in cricket analogies?
I am afraid we are at a crossroads here. I have spent the last 12 years or so, desperately trying to understand the first thing about how cricket is supposed to work and haven’t gotten any closer than I’ve started but thank you for reading.
USA 1-2 Japan, bottom 2nd inning
Japan has runners on second and third with two out now. Kondoh scalds a pitch on a 1-2 count that lands foul, something that would have cleared the bases if it landed elsewhere. Instead, it’s still 1-2.
Kondoh fouls the next pitch off on a check-swing. 1-2. Kondoh pops one up for the final out of the inning. The US limit the damage but Japan takes the lead. The good news for the US: there are a lot of innings left and it’s hard to imagine the Japanese pitching staff is doing to limit this team to just two runs.
RBI groundout (Lars Nootbaar, USA 1-2 Japan)USA 1-2 Japan, bottom 2nd inning
Loup on with bases loaded and just one out. The first pitch is a strike to Nootbaar, who is showing bunt. A sacrifice bunt in this situation? That feels weird.
The next pitch is a fastball for a strike. Loup gets ahead 0-2 before hitting an RBI grounder to first and Japan takes the lead. That’s as good as a sac bunt in my eyes.
Joe Pearson:
Technically, he mansplains, Rambo did not draw First Blood, which was kind of the point.
Anybody else emailing you, or just me?
I will admit to never having watched a single “Rambo” movie, I have only read the MAD Magazine parodies.
And yes, so far it’s just been you. It’s okay, I am very good at talking to myself.
USA 1-1 Japan, bottom 2nd inning
And here comes Aaron Loup to put out the fire. Let’s see how this works out.
USA 1-1 Japan, bottom 2nd inning
Catcher Yuhei Nakamura is up next. The US is starting the bullpen going early here. Aaron Loup is throwing, getting warm. On a 2-0 pitch, Kakamura hits a pitch into foul territory. 2-1. He takes a strike in the zone. 2-2. The next pitch is just inside. 3-2. And the next one just misses as well. Bases loaded, just one out and this is a chance for Japan to do some major damage.
USA 1-1 Japan, bottom 2nd inning
Sosuke Genda hits a single to left, that’s two on with one out.
USA 1-1 Japan, bottom 2nd inning
Nobody out, one run in and a runner on first base. Tetsuto Yamada is up next. He gets ahead of the count 2-0 and then fouls off a pitch. 2-1. Yamada has to duck out of the way from the next pitch. 3-1. He swings and misses at the next. 3-2. He fouls the next one off. 3-2 again. He hits a flyball to Betts for the first out.
USA 1-1 Japan, bottom 2nd inning
Kazuma Okamoto singles to right. Japan is fighting back this inning.
Solo home run! (Munetaka Murakami USA 1-1 Japan)USA 1-1 Japan, bottom 2nd inning
Well, that was fast. Munetaka Murakami, who has been having a good week, immediately hits a solo home run to tie up this game.
USA 1-0 Japan, top 2nd inning
Betts hits a flyball to left and that will do it, but the USA scores first and, to nobody’s surprise, Trea Turner has drawn first blood. Just call him Rambo.
USA 1-0 Japan, top 2nd inning
Anderson hits a base hit and that’s runners on first and second as the order turns over.
Once again, we’re not going to see a lot of 1-2-3 innings from Team USA’s lineup.
USA 1-0 Japan, top 2nd inning
Cedric Mullins is up next and he promptly strikes out. Two down, runner still on first. Tim Anderson is up next.
USA 1-0 Japan, top 2nd inning
J.T. Realmuto works a full count before hitting a base hit to left field.
Solo home run! (Trea Turner, USA 1-0 Japan)USA 1-0 Japan, top 2nd inning
That’s the reason that Trea Turner was moved up in the lineup. He hits yet another home run, this one on a 2-1 count and the US takes a swift 1-0 lead!
USA 0-0 Japan, top 2nd inning
Kyle Schwarber is up to start the second inning against Imanaga. Shwarber flies out to right for a quick out.
Email from Joe Pearson:
Have they not told us who the umpires are and where they’re from, or did I miss it?
If they did, I missed it too. Honestly, not that it’s something I ever pay close attention to. My ears only perk up when a legendarily bad one is on duty and Angel Hernandez is not in the building for this one to the best of my knowledge.
USA 0-0 Japan, bottom 1st inning
Recent Boston Red Sox Masataka Yoshida signing is up next with a runner on first and two out. Kelly gets ahead of him 1-2 as Yoshida keeps fouling off pitches before taking strike three.
No scoring after the first inning, this definitely feels like a different game than Saturday’s.
USA 0-0 Japan, bottom 1st inning
Shohei Ohtani, the most exciting player in baseball, is up next. Kelly falls behind in the count 2-0, possibly pitching him carefully. The next pitch is also outside. 3-0. The next pitch is a strike. 3-1. The next pitch is just off the corner and Ohtani knows that it’s a ball and takes his base.
USA 0-0 Japan, bottom 1st inning
Kensuke Kondoh grounds out to Trea Turner at shortstop and that’s two down relatively quickly.
USA 0-0 Japan, bottom 1st inning
Lars Nootbaar flies out on one pitch. That’s a nice start for Merrill Kelly.
Email from Joe Pearson in Indianapolis:
Those Japan jerseys are kind of weird. Translucent and shiny, almost like they’re silk? Odd.
Joe Pearson
I dig them personally, but I have a strange fashion sense.
USA 0-0 Japan, top 1st inning
Nolan Arenado is up next with a runner on second and two outs. He grounds out to first and that’s that in the top of the first. Japan’s offense will get its first turn at-bat next.
USA 0-0 Japan, top 1st inning
Paul Goldschmidt, who has been absolutely on fire this tournament, is up next. He falls behind 0-2 and then strikes out swinging on a changeup. Two down.
USA 0-0 Japan, top 1st inning
Mike Trout is up next. He swings and misses at the first pitch. He then floats one into right field that just drops, he manages to just outrun it for a double.
First pitchUSA 0-0 Japan, top 1st inning
Shota Imanaga’s first pitch to Mookie Betts is just on the edge for a called strike and then gets him to fly out for the first out.
Okay, so I wasn’t mistaken: it was thought that Yu Darvish would pitch today and instead it’s Shota Imanaga. I had written my prediction beforehand giving Japan the edge in starting pitching because of Darvish but, as Ken Rosenthal points out, these US hitters have seen Darvish a lot and this might actually give Japan the edge in the early innings by having a talented pitcher who is more of an unknown quality.
As always, we’ll see.
The broadcasters are speculating on whether Ohtani would be available to pitch out of the bullpen at some point during this game. While it would be an amazing thing to watch, it strikes me as a potentially risky gambit.
However, this is a championship game and a title is on the line, so one imagines that no options are fully off the table.
In honor of this momentous occasion let us all celebrate the greatest Tweet ever made about the Angels, the reason Tungsten Arm O’Doyle trends on Twitter every time the Angels lose a winnable game. (Which is a lot.)
every time I see an Angels highlight it’s like “Mike Trout hit three homes runs and raised his average to .528 while Shohei Ohtani did something that hasn’t been done since ‘Tungsten Arm’ O’Doyle of the 1921 Akron Groomsmen, as the Tigers defeated the Angels 8-3”
— ℳatt (@matttomic) May 18, 2021
We’re getting both national anthems! I love this, even if “The Star Spangled Banner” always suffers in comparison.
Both teams’ rosters are out on the field now. It looks like we’re having some pregame ceremonies, as befits a championship game.
Fans gather outside LoanDepot Park ahead of Tuesday’s final. Photograph: Cristóbal Herrera/EPAMike Trout is extremely happy to be playing in meaningful games.
Pregame programming: Okay, so instead of watching whatever Fox Sports 1 is doing, I am watching a “Castle” rerun BUT it is actually a “Castle” episode that is about Cuban baseball players so it is technically somewhat connected to international baseball. Plus, Joe Torre made a cameo appearance, so I feel like this is technically work-related.
Predictions
This will be a tricky game to predict beforehand. The United States has a more formidable offensive lineup, as we saw when it pulverized Cuban pitching on Sunday, but one has to think that this Japan team is going to put up a stronger effort. I do not think I will be complaining that there will be no “mercy rule” in play like I did last time around.
Ultimately, if the US offense finds the weak link in Japan’s bullpen, they could put up a crooked number that tilts their game in their favor. I’m saying the final will be something like USA 7-5 Japan.
Have thoughts of your own? Just send them here, either to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com) or via Twitter (to @HunterFelt). We’ll include them throughout today’s live blog.
It’s the USA vs Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic final featuring the United States v Japan at Miami’s LoanDepot Park. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 at 7:00 pm EST, but this blog will be back before then with starting lineups, predictions and other such stuff before then.
Hunter will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look back at Japan’s stunning come-from-behind win over Cuba on Monday night to book their spot in tonight’s final.