Team Japan opened its World Baseball Classic pool play with a 13-0 win over Taiwan after just seven innings, thanks to the mercy rule, and they were led by Los Angeles Dodgers superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Ohtani went 3-for-4 with a grand slam, five RBI and one run scored in the win while finishing a triple shy of the cycle. His grand slam started the scoring as part of a 10-run second inning.
Meanwhile, Yamamoto tossed 2.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and three walks as Japan’s starting pitcher and was credited with the win.
Although Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was not awake for the 2 a.m. PT game, he woke up and quickly checked the results to see his players performing on one of baseball’s biggest stages, via Doug Padilla of the Southern California News Group:
“That was the first thing I did when I woke up this morning, just to kind of see what happened and see how our guys did,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And they both performed well. And no surprise that Shohei put on another great performance.”
It should be no surprise to anyone that Ohtani and Yamamoto are at their best when the lights are the brightest after what they accomplished in the 2025 MLB postseason.
Yamamoto was named the World Series MVP after putting together multiple historic outings and then closing out Game 7 of the World Series on no days of rest. Ohtani was named the National League Championship Series MVP after arguably having the greatest game in baseball history by hitting three home runs while also striking out 10 batters over six scoreless innings
Ohtani has also been named the NL MVP in both of his first two seasons with the Dodgers, and he has won the award three consecutive and four total times.
Team Japan WBC schedule
Japan is set to play its second game against Korea on March 7 with another 2 a.m. game. Although Yamamoto will not appear in that one, Ohtani will face off against Hyeseong Kim, who is expected to start for Korea.
On March 8, they face off against Australia before finishing off the opening round of play on March 10 against Czechia
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