Japan wins the 2023 World Baseball Classic

(CNN) — Team Japan defeated Team United States 3-2 on Tuesday to win the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Miami, Florida.

The United States took the lead early on Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner’s home run in the top of the second inning to give the Americans a 1-0 lead. It was Turner’s fifth home run of the tournament, tying the World Baseball Classic record.

But Japan responded quickly with a game-tying home run from reigning Nippon Professional Baseball MVP Munetaka Murakami of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows on the first pitch of the bottom of the second inning.

Later in the inning, Japan scored again to take a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth inning, Japan doubled their lead on a home run by Kazuma Okamoto of the NPB Yomiuri Giants to make the score 3-1.

The United States cut the gap with Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Kyle Schwarber’s mammoth home run in the eighth inning that left the game in one run.

Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani, who had hit one earlier in the game, took the mound to close out the game in the ninth inning. Ohtani walked the leadoff hitter before inducing a double play from Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts to set up a dramatic duel against fellow USA captain Mike Trout.

Trout worked the batting up to a full count of three balls and two strikes, but Ohtani struck out his teammate with a slider to end the match.

Addressing his teammates before the game, Ohtani urged his team not to be intimidated by the MLB star-studded US team.

“Let’s stop admiring them,” Ohtani said, according to a translation by Dylan Hernández of the LA Times. “If you admire them, you can’t surpass them. We have come here to surpass them, to reach the top. For one day, let’s throw away our admiration for them and think only of winning.”

For Japan, this is the third championship it has won in the World Baseball Classic, after winning the first two editions of the tournament in 2006 and 2009.

This has been the first World Baseball Classic since 2017, when the US team took the trophy. The tournament was postponed from 2021 to 2023 due to the covid-19 pandemic and was held in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan.