The World Baseball Classic continues on FS1 as Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani and Team Japan battle Team China in a highly anticipated matchup at the Tokyo Dome.
As expected, Ohtani takes the mound for Japan in his first WBC appearance, while Xiang Wang gets the ball for China.
These are the best moments of the match!
China vs. Japan
sit them down!
Ohtani’s stuff was working early, and he looked poised for a stellar start as he sliced this batter with his signature splitter in the first.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani records his first strikeout in the 2023 World Baseball Classic against China!
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani struck out the first batter he faced in the 2023 World Baseball Classic against China.
Persuade the walk
After Ohtani took care of business in the first, the Japanese offense started the game with a fiery rally, bringing in its first run courtesy of a walk after loading the bases.
Out on the plate!
Japan had a chance to score another run with one out, but China made a huge double play on a sacrifice fly attempt, when Pei Lang uncorked a laser to trap the runner.
Pei Liang makes a catch and throws the runner home to limit China’s damage against Japan
China limited the damage in the first inning after Pei Liang made a catch and threw to tag the runner at home.
We’ve got your back
Ohtani did his part to keep runners off the basepaths in the first couple of innings…
… and when he needed a little help in his endeavours, his defense stepped up a notch. Plays like this diving catch by Lars Nootbaar helped keep China scoreless through three innings.
Shot Time!
With runners in scoring position, Ohtani often gets positive results, and the superstar sent the home crowd into a frenzy with this opposite-field double to score two more for his squad. The momentous hit put Japan up 3-0 at the end of the quarter.
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